Barely Conscious
by moodrose
Summary: 10 years after the War the Minor Gods start recieving glory. Elea Collins, though, recieves honor through something she hasn't done. Soon she has to decide between dead and the living - with a price of giving up everything she has ever been.
1. THE DAY MY NIGHTMARE BEGINS

**A/N**

My second Percy Jackson-fanfic. Written for NaNoWriMo -09 - OC-story, 10 years after TLO.

_"dead people live in a dead world, __see dead things, feel dead things. But the thing I remembered feeling was something in between."_

BARELY CONSCIOUS

Five tips that will most probably make you consider are you a half-blood:

1. Demigod dreams suck.

**PART 1: DREAM**

1 THE DAY MY NIGHTMARE BEGINS

I am serious about this one. I actually thought them of as regular dreams – just until this autumn. My birthday was September 2nd: and that was the day, when my world started to collapse. It all started from the _stick._

I had a really freaky dream that night.

In the dream I stood in some sort of corridor, all empty and windy, so that I could hear the breeze thru the closed windows and understand how lucky I was to be where I was. I couldn't say was it day or night, but one thing really bugged me out then. I guess I was going to school or something, because when I thought about it, suddenly the floor turned turquoise and the walls filled with doors of dark wood – this was our staircase. The door to our crappy apartment stood right beside me and I walked, then rushed down the stairs. The echo of my footsteps rang in my ears in a stable tune and so normal it felt, until I saw something very unnatural in the first floor. Our house had three storeys and we of course had to live in the third – and by the door with the family name PADDINGTON there stood a _stick. _I could already hear the voices from outside, the yells of some children and cars flowing by, but I just stood there. Stood and stared at the thick stick leaning on the door of pinewood and could not say why. It was an ordinary stick all right, the kind you see kids playing with when they want to look tough, that kind of you could light up to make a torch. I saw those sticks all the time. It was Canada, the hill our house was on was _full _of those. But I could tell there was something wrong about that stick – maybe it could symbolise something about to happen.

And I could never realise, that I actually guessed it right.

At daybreak, the time I woke up, I noticed this horrible pain in my head. It was like I had a hangover or something. Okay, I couldn't tell what a hangover was like since I had never had one, but I guessed it was mainly like the headache you get of drinking coke. I always woke up seeing my purple-painted closet, an electric clock with 6:06 on the screen and cans of coca cola. I had never counted how many cans I actually owned, but there was fairly over 100. My dad worked in a coke factory. He always brought coke home – but never told me what the secret recipe was. I guessed there was actually no secret recipe at all, but people just thought there was one and the coke-factory guys just played them fool. I always thought about things like that. My thoughts wondered easily – if I had to study for a chemistry test with all the elements in it et cetera, I'd start to think about some jewellery shop or something, I dunno why, maybe because when I start thinking about the periodic table of elements, I always think of gold. And when I think of gold, I think of a jewellery shop. With guys dressed up in freaky suits with zebra stripes on them and a smile worth of million dollars on their face. I _hate _zebra stripes. I couldn't say why, but every time I saw zebra stripes somewhere, I had a feeling I should punch the guy wearing them in the face and tear his zebra-mania apart. Usually the guys wearing zebra stripes look just like my dad, the coke-factory guy. He is a pretty cool guy actually, we get on well, but he looks odd. My dad looks kinda Asian, and people always ask me am I adopted or something. My mum then… she's got this very light look. Like she would come from Norway or somewhere there, that place where each woman looks like she works in a toothpaste commercial.

My mother. I couldn't understand her very well. If I had to describe her shortly, I'd say that she sleeps all the time. She has to always take her beauty-sleep and she wakes up every morning at twelve. Because my dad is in work already and my mum wants to take care that I actually eat something in the mornings, she always does me some coffee and maybe a banana and tapes a note with huge letters on the coffee machine, so that I would notice it. I of course always do, but it's just because my mum always writes my full name and can't understand, that I hate coffee. My mum was probably the only person in the world who called me with my whole name. Eleanor. It's a pretty stupid name in my opinion, if I think about it. That's why everyone always calls me Elea, or then _The Collins girl._ I was one of the few people whose names were always remembered. I guess its maybe because they are so dorky. I never asked who made up my first name and who the second, but the thing is, I hate them both. Especially the second one – Cicada. Who in the world names their kid Cicada? I always asked my mum that wasn't a cicada some sort of locust. I never got the answer, but I'm pretty sure that it anyway is some damn bug.

And you know what really bugs me? (Speaking of bugs.) The whole thing with me. My life has always been crazy, it was never easy for me. And for the least in this world I could hope that someone would actually start messing it up. I did wait for answers, someone to show me those words I couldn't hear, but the way that happened wasn't the way I wanted it to. Sometimes I actually hope I had stayed home that day. Sit on that damn chair covered with brown leather and drink that damn brown coffee. I'm sure that drinking that would have made me sick. Sometimes I still imagine my life is just a dream. I wake up in the morning, survive, then lay down again, but what if it all is just a life-long dream, and when I wake up, I would be a child again, innocent, and the whole fifteen of my years on this planet would have been just a dream. Would it then be easier for me to make those decisions right?

But that day I felt like that even more than I had ever felt. Right after the ring of the morning bell I could tell I was awake, and as the rays of sunshine hit my face I knew I could sleep no more, but the dawn felt unnaturally quiet. I pulled on a purple sweater, my favourite colour, black leggings and a pair of black ballerinas, brushed my teeth probably with the expression of a zombie on my face, dragged myself into the kitchen with mum's coffee and the note with ELEANOR on it, but there was something wrong about that morning. I should have never stood up from that table. Never stridden out of the door or biked to the school. But still I did it, the way as I always did and learned to survive. Before leaving the apartment I applied a layer of lipbalm on my de-hydrated lips and tied my orange hair up and closed the radio. I'm sure there was something wrong about the radio too. Maybe I had really then turned into a zombie.

After getting to school I finally understood why I felt so odd. It must have been one of those days when everything just goes wrong, and the first time I noticed it was when I started checking my pockets for my lipbalm. I always had to have it with me, because my lips had a problem and they never hydrated – it was like torture to me not having one with me. It should have been there, but the thing was, that leggings didn't have pockets, not my sweater either. This was going great.

The second thing driving me crazy was our gym class. Usually I loved gym, it was like my favourite school subject, but this time nothing was just going well. I wished we would have played ice hockey, but they never played it that time of the year. This time we played basketball. I got to be in the front, maybe because of my height. I was actually pretty tall, but the problem was that my hair was sorta wavy, and it always kept on coming on my face, so even though I tried to pull it aside it just kept bouncing wherever it liked to, and made me look like a 12-year old with strawberry blonde pigtails. I could almost always do something to keep my hair out of the way, but this time it seemed impossible. It was like my hair had suddenly its own will or something. And the long, long nightmare was only in its beginning – since about ten crows attacked me on the long break. Birds always seemed to have something against me, maybe it was the way I always smelled like coca cola and they couldn't stand it. That crow attack made me actually think about it, all the birds and stuff. Sometimes when I had been little they had stared me in a strange way, very strange way. I also saw a lot of dead birds. Or then they were just asleep, but it was bright day, and only one person in the world slept in that time – my mother.

Maybe it was just the attack of the crows which gave me another dream. But this dream didn't have a stick in it, no, but actually something as freaky. Ten crows by a little pond on the edge of the road, staring at their own reflections like they were concerned on the cleanness of their feathers. It would have been pretty normal, yes, but as I said, my dreams were never up to no good, and the next day when they started to turn into reality, I knew, that playing with my dreams was no fun at all.


	2. I SPOT A COUPLE OF DEAD BIRDS

**PART 1: DREAM**

2 I SPOT A COUPLE OF DEAD BIRDS

2. You see stuff, you probably shouldn't see.

Just like freaky guys that look like some regular TV-actors but they never tie their shoelaces and their eyes glow deep red like lava – and it seems like they are following you, but actually they just come out of nowhere, like from a tractor path in the edge of a highway and that's the place you would least look for _Robert Pattison _– and then they stalk you for a little time, turning then their backs on you.

That's what happened to me that Thursday. For once I already told I should have never left the building the day before. It's because a chain of freaky things started to happen to me. The morning felt very odd, and maybe it was because at this time my mum was awake and staring me with her big, piercing blue eyes and offering me a cup of coffee. Between me and mum the conversations were always awkward. I sometimes wished I'd have a sibling or something, but it never happened, and I felt so damn lonesome. I had friends at school, yes, but I never did anything with them except played ice hockey, and it was impossible to play it in the middle of September. Sometimes I actually wished the weather would be colder in that time of the year.

And I regret it. Right the minute I had thought about it, I was like seeing in my mother's icy eyes pictures that no-one else could see: snow pouring down from the skies instead of water, ponds and lakes freezing with this crackling sound and when it's fully frozen, it closes up with a menacing THUG. I kinda felt the shivers then, and for a second I was actually up to drink the cup of coffee mum was offering. "Aren't you hungry, Eleanor?" She asked with this aunty-like voice, waving her blonde hair from one side to other. But I just shook my head and left the kitchen, and when the living room clock showed that I had still 30 minutes until I had to leave, I sat on the old and crumby couch listening to the ticking of the clock and the bubbling sound the aquarium in the corner of the room was making. My dad fancied fish. And staring at that aqua-coloured water with tonnes of Angelfish swimming in it, I sorta hugged myself. Maybe it was because I was cold, but I just swayed back and forth listening to that silence. My senses seemed to sharpen in silence. Just listening to that ticking made me hear everything else in that room I normally couldn't: the way the droplets of water dripping from the sink left not fully closed colliding with the surface, the clashing and clonking of the pipes inside the walls, maybe the sound of some mice – it freaked me out. But something was missing from that moment. When I closed my eyes thinking of the way my mum stared me a few seconds ago and about that awful sound a lake could make when it froze, I fell asleep, but it was probably one of the greatest mistakes ever made.

I knew, that the birds didn't sing that morning.

"Oh my goodness, it's snowing outside!"

I took a shivering breath when opening my eyes. I knew I had slept only for a moment, and somehow I also knew how long and what the clock was; I had to leave in 10 minutes. For a second I was like in some sort of trance, I knew there were voices around me and the fish probably stared at me like I was a madman or something, but I just didn't care. My gaze wandered from the aquarium to the window I could see through the open kitchen door, and I almost fell out of the couch. I didn't feel sleepy at all, it was odd, but how could've I felt like that on a moment like it? For a second I thought I had never woken up, but even though I snapped myself, I still was awake. Outside it was just as my mother had told; there wasn't a snowstorm or anything, but the ground was frosty and the ponds icy, just like I had seen before. That must've been the craziest coincidence ever. That's what I would have thought, if I hadn't stepped outside. I should've chained myself into my bed or something. And never closed my eyes again.

Freakiest of all, I didn't actually feel cold outside, even though the air was so damn frosty. My breath formed clouds of white vapour every time I blew air out, and I almost fell on my back when rushing out of the door (not even wearing a jacket or anything, I must've been crazy.) I couldn't take the bike to school that day, because I didn't own even a cursed helmet, so I walked. I almost tripped off for about 10 times or so, but tripping over was definitely nicer than getting killed by riding your bike to some lamppost. On the way I thought about so many things, my thoughts were doing this mean cycle in my head again. It was just as the thing with the test with the periodic table of elements and the jewellery shop. But this time, as I stared at those trees with their leaves still on and stuff, but all covered in white frost that glittered in the sun making the trees look like pure silver, and started thinking about stuff. Everything looked so very… dead. But not dead in the way I saw trees in the winter losing their leaves and looking like skeletons, but living dead, like vampires. I started then thinking about vampires. I read this Twilight-series by Stephenie Meyer probably in the age of 10, which was about five years from now, and that time I was both fascinated and totally freaked out by that series. I feared every night that Victoria is coming to attack me, I saw the boogieman as Victoria and everything. The only problem with it was that I would have nothing to defence me from that maniac; normally I would've said BITE ME, but talking like that to a _vampire_… it's suicide.

And everything else, as well as the nature, had this same feeling on it. Living dead. Only thing I thought of as dead were the birds – I knew they did sing no more already in the moment I woke up from my nice morning nap. It was great that they weren't attacking me this time, but looking at them laying motionless in the ground wherever and peaking on the branches of the trees so that they drooped of the weight of those birds, I felt very odd. It was just like I was the reason those birds were looking so very, very dead, and I thought of vampires when looking at all the oak trees around me. That minute the only thing going in my mind was that I needed to get to school and fast, even though my first lesson was English and I hated the teacher and never understood anything about his babblings. I knew what I would be doing the whole lesson – drawing pictures of eyes on my notebook and probably wishing to be dead. I was so thankful that we never had to show our notebooks to our teachers – my notebook was probably the messiest of the whole class. I knew I wasn't a good drawer or anything, but I was very fascinated of eyes. I drew them everywhere, it was my symbol or something, and that's why everyone would know who had decorated the walls of the whole school with graffiti if I would be sleepwalking. I got to school in time all right, but everything happened just as I imagined, and again I felt to very lonely. This girl called Sofia always sat next to me, she came from Quebec. She wore her blonde hair braided and spoke with a funny accent, but I liked her. She knew nothing about hockey, but what did I care. She and I both spoke France pretty well, and neither of us understood English. She didn't understand it because Quebec was totally France and I didn't understand it because… well, you'll never guess why. This Sofia… she had very pretty eyes. They were grey, and I didn't usually see people with grey eyes. I knew some, but Sofia's were stormy grey, like stone or something. They sorta freaked me out. I always looked everyone in the eyes when I spoke – that's why everyone thought I was polite. Okay, my way of speech sounded like crap, but I acted pretty nicely. If I was mute, I would get an A for behaviour in school. But I still thought that I had actually no reason to act like that. I looked people in the eyes, but they never looked back. Maybe, because my eyes were such a boring colour – hazel. I knew a million people with hazel eyes, such as that singer Kelly Clarkson – I always listened to her as a kid. My eye colour was one other thing that made me think I was a freak. I would've liked it, but my mother or father – neither of them had hazel eyes. That's another thing of which thinking made me regret it so much. Our English teacher gave us in the end of the lesson topics for an essay we had to write. Essays, that's one thing I can't stand either. It must be my poor vocabulary. I never dared to show any of my essays to my parents at home, because there the red pen goes again – there must be a mistake in every sentence or something. If I'd have an interesting topic I would probably even be capable of writing a text worth of C, but I always got the crappiest topics. I heard the people around me whispering about their topic – this guy with really dumb hair looking like a swab had to write about equality, some other wrote about the global warming, Sofia next to me had the topic animal rights. They were all pretty nice topics, as you could go easily to Wikipedia and just copypaste something out of there and maybe change the order of the words so no-one would guess that there's no own text at all, but what was my topic? Adoption. It would've been easy to me to just google that up, but the topic was kinda too personal to me. I had always thought about me being adopted. There were so many things that said yes to that claim – for example the way that my mother and father had different last names. My mother was Ash Collins and my father Harlee Wood, but still the door said just Collins, and I was Collins too. If I could've chosen, I would've been a Wood. Eleanor Wood sounds so much better than Collins. But anyway – from what on have babies had power to choose their own last name – or even the family they get born in? If I could've chosen that, I would stay where I am. But probably make my mum know that I don't drink coffee and change her personality so that she wouldn't sleep all the time – and maybe change my father's job too, just because I don't want to smell every morning like stinkin' coke.

The time my school ended, I had no idea this would be one of the last times I'd walk down this road from there to home. It was getting pretty damn cold as the clock approached four. I was like 100% sure that when I'm gonna go to bed and wake up next morning, it would be Thursday, September third, and nothing of this would've happened. But for now I had no power over the weather or anything that was happening right then. The trees still sparkled like pure silver and the frozen asphalt reflected my face, distorted. I started to feel I had caught the cold or something. I was just sniffing all the time and covering my nose every time I did it, even though I actually didn't sneeze or anything. It was maybe because of my nose – it was sort of flat and I pretty much hated it. It made me look so young. I was sure I'd never get to fake my age or anything to enter an R-rated movie. Even though I'd have a fake ID, it'd look so damn fake, that even my grandma wouldn't believe it's real. And she's like half blind.

The birds were dead again. It was very odd… I could actually spot them from distances and I was like sure that they were still alive then – picking some stones from the ground and swallowing them thinking they were crumbs of bread or something. I never got to feed birds, either. They seemed to drop dead the moment I looked at them. Or the other way, they attacked me and almost picked my eyes out. Birds. That's one thing I wouldn't have created if I was a god or something.

Thinking of that was very silly. Or then foolish, if I must say. Maybe, because these freaky guys looking like perverts could read my thoughts. They were always very tall and huge, looking like walking closets – and they wore these jackets perverts use to hide porn in. They usually walked on side streets like perverts always did, but I still felt like they had something else in mind than trying to violate me. I never saw their eyes; it was because each and every one of them wore a freaky, huge hat, the Sherlock Holmes-kind of hat. But one thing I could tell of them, that they used to look like different celebrities – once I was walking alone listening to Kelly Clarkson on my MP3, this old tractor path near these woods in around a few mile radius of our house. I had been just on a walk, listening to music and walking. Then this guy comes out in that pervert jacket from behind a bush and freaks the damn out of me, so that I just had to run. I didn't have time to see what he was about to do or anything, but the only thing I remembered of him that he looked like Robert Pattison, the guy from Twilight, Edward Cullen or what his name was again (I never liked him.) Once I saw one looking like Michael Jackson, and it couldn't just be possible, because the guy was already dead and everything. And today that pervert guy seemed somehow familiar too. I speeded up my walking so that the guy couldn't attack me or anything, but I remembered his face. Not until I got home I could remember what he looked like. I remember how I spent my whole summer in Germany in the age of 9. That time they were showing on every channel this series called Stürm Die Liebe, it was a melodrama or something. I never remembered the names of the people in the show, maybe because they were German and never shorter than six letters, but I remember that there was this gardener called Grüber. He worked at the hotel or somewhere. That pervert there was totally Grüber. The only difference in him and the gardener was that he didn't tie his shoelaces. The perverts never did. I guess they were too busy taking their clothes off or something.

The odd thing with those guys was that I seemed to see one of them every year. This Grüber-guy was the fourth I had seen, and I had seen them since I had turned twelve. I saw him on my twelfth birthday, all right, Robert Pattison. The next year I had seen Johnny Depp. Things had never been normal since the day I turned twelve. People always said thirteen was the number of misfortune, but to me it was twelve. My world just turned upside down then.


	3. I AM STALKED BY THE LEAGUE OF PERVERTS

**PART 1: DREAM**

3 I AM STALKED BY THE LEAGUE OF PERVERTS

3. You suspect your parents are not your own.

...Every now and then. Sometimes you feel greatly connected to them, but there are times... when you just feel that there's no connection at all. And I guess it's mainly the looks. It's crazy, everyone always thought I was adopted or something; my mum had this blonde, almost white hair and piercing blue eyes and my father... he's got this a little Asian look. And I... I had hazel eyes and pitch-black hair. I look more like my father, that's for sure. But he still is a little too dark to be my identical twin or something, and the suspicion started in about the age of twelve. Just because my hair turned orange.

My twelfth birthday was the second of September, 2012. That was the year people thought that the world is going to end or something. I always thought the apocalypse-thing was a little exaggerated. If I was older I wouldn't have worried and anything. My memory is kinda hazy from that time, and I had sometimes asked my mum did the world end then and stuff, but she just told that the world's economy went down and stuff and planes used to fall from the skies. That must've been nasty, and I'm kinda worried sometimes because I can't remember almost anything from that year. It's like I was walking in smoke, or the whole year was just a… dream. But one thing I for sure do remember – that morning. Okay, the next night I was walking down the tractor path and saw the pervert #1, but before that I got to school and looked in the mirror. I guess I fainted then or something. My hair had changed its colour. The night before I had dreamed of maybe me being prettier that year, and I had thought of dying my hair – it was jet-black since I was born, but it had suddenly turned orange, as if I had dipped my head in carrot juice. I had never anything against orange hair, but it was still freaky. It was never the colour of carrots, but strawberry blonde, maybe. I wore a huge hat the whole week to hide my hair, but my mum still noticed it, and she freaked out seeing it, and told me to colour it back. I had never coloured my hair, so I had no idea how to dye it – and after my mum helped me do it, it turned black all right, but was in the morning orange again. My mum killed me because of that. The hair-episode was actually the only thing I could clearly remember from that year. It took me three long years to know what kind of danger was I in all the time, and why my hair decided to go chameleon. My mum could neither explain how the year had felt so hazy to her, neither my father. But for that I am sure, that some greater force was messing up with the lives of us, us _normal _people. It was like we were pieces in a chess game. Life went on at all, but things were never the same as before, and for now I am sure of that. Even the school nurse couldn't say why my hair had changed its colour for nothing. And even if I would've told her the whole story of 2.9.2012, would she have believed it?

That day of September I made the biggest mistake of my life. But how should've I have guessed that I'd be attacked by some bunch of weirdos claiming to be friends of the closet-sized perverts? No way I would've.

That was the last time I walked down the corridors of the school on Maple Alley. The bell rang, I took my books and smiled to the guys in the corner to whom I had promised to play ice hockey with that Sunday. And I never got a chance to tell them, why I couldn't come. I regret it, but as I said, they would've never believed it.

There wasn't snow any more, the lakes weren't icy either. The whole day had been warm and I kinda felt nothing would go wrong. I didn't even remember my dreams from the night before. Or then I just wished to forget them. Dreams were up to no good, and people shouldn't worry about them – they were just like movies seen behind closed eyelids, never important, pictures flowing by, but not to be remembered. I got home safe and sound and I started to work on my English essay. Everyone seemed to be a faster writer than me – I had written nothing, and even Sofia had already 3 pages of text. And I still couldn't write anything, so I opened up my laptop and typed in Wikipedia to copypaste something into my notebook. But it was always hard to me to concentrate only in one thing at the time. I googled up _adoption _and as well to Wikipedia I started to read articles about adopted kids, blogs of people who had found their true family and were so much happier then – and even some people, who had never gotten to know they were adopted – they had lived in some poor family their whole life, but they were actually the kids of some really rich family, just given away because the real parents couldn't take care of them. As more as I read them the more I wanted to stop – I closed my eyes and pressed the cross in the edge of the page, closed the whole computer. I had done nothing to advance my project, but now I had a dozen questions circling in my mind. And I thought about Sofia again. Maybe she was again writing in the speed of some lean-mean-typing-machine, staring into the paper with her stormy, grey eyes. And again I thought about my parents – my Asian-looking father with his dark looks and mum's icy gaze. I just couldn't be the child of either.

I found myself drawing again a pair of eyes in the marginal next to the page. The eyes were mine, hazel and so different than my parents'. I shook my head and rose up from the chair. It was the biggest mistake ever made.

The kitchen seemed to be so far from my room. Outside the birds weren't singing again, and it was silent, but that didn't matter - the only thing that mattered then was that both of my parents needed to be home. My dad was probably watching the Super Bowl on tape or something, because the TV was on and I heard this maniacal shouting from the room, like my dad was trying to narrate the thing. My mother was in the kitchen again. It was very awkward - it was such a normal afternoon in a normal family, with the mum cooking and the house full of voices, but I was about to tear the family apart. Break the idyllic peace just as if I would crush a bug. Or two bugs - my mother and my father.

I had always liked my dad better. The coke thing still bugged me, but he was a cool guy, and it was easier to talk to him than to my mother. He also looked more like me, like the black hair he had, and my hair had been black too, in birth, but there was a difference still. My dad was though pretty short. I was as tall as he was, and it was pretty cool. But I didn't think of things like that when I entered the room - I just stared at the swimming Angelfish and took a quick glance at the game. It seemed to be on halftime - there was a dancing Pacman or something as crappy on the field. My dad seemed not to notice me. He just laughed like a maniac when he saw the Pacman attacking this guy dressed up as a pink ghost, he wore a sheet on and everything. His name was Winky or something.

"Dad?" I spoke up, but my dad continued staring at his game. "Am I..."

He didn't listen. It was as if he would have been on the side of these ghosts, because he almost started to cry when Blinky got beaten up with a baseball bat. I was kinda amused by that - why the damn did they carry a baseball bat into a football game?

"Dad?" I repeated. "Coke-dude?"

Duh. He never listened. Thank heavens my mum had ears and everything - she was probably so bored that she actually seemed to care that I had something important to tell my father. "Harlee?" She shouted from the kitchen. "I think Eleanor has something to tell you."

Finally my father raised his gaze. It was a pain to know that I couldn't look into those eyes for much longer - to not call him dad any more.

"Don't take this as an offence… but…" It was so damn hard to say those words. Could I break his heart just like that, so easily?

"Yes, dear?"

"I'm writing an essay in school…" I hated when he called me _dear. _Okay, it was cute that he liked me and everything, but it was like he was talking to a little child. "An English essay about adoption. And I went to Wikipedia and started to read all these articles and I just thought… am I adopted?"  
There the words came. So fast, that my father didn't even understand me. "What, dear?" He asked, and I think I heard my mother dropping a plate or something in the kitchen. I bit my lips. They would bleed soon, that's for sure.

"Am I adopted? I just started to think about it, because… well…"  
"You said you read an article from _Wikipedia?_" My father didn't even look at me. He stared at Pacman and a bunch of dancing fruits forming a pyramid. "Don't believe what Wikipedia tells you, dear. I bet they don't even know how to type _Coca Cola_ right."

I mumbled something. My dad was such a mysterious person – he was just like a closed-up book, so hard to read. Was he staring at his game just because I couldn't then see the pain in his eyes, or because he didn't care the damn of me? His gaze was still locked on his cursed game.

And then my mother stepped out from the kitchen. She wore a white apron which made her look an angel – everyone always said she looked like an angel. She had a dustpan in her left hand – she was left-handed, just like me, and even though it was empty, I was pretty sure she had just used it to clear the pieces of the plate she broke from the floor. The clash still rang in my ears – we had a linoleum floor in the kitchen, with these black and white tiles, so that everything dropped there made an awful sound.

She wore her hair in a bun like all happy mums did and for a second I felt so sad for what I had asked my father. It seemed to him like a stupid question, but though my mother said nothing, her eyes reflected pain, and her voice was trembling when she opened her mouth and stared at my father with moistened eyes.

"Harlee..." She started, in this awful tune - it sounded like a piano played without it being tuned. "Do you think... Eleanor..."

"I am sorry, but I don't understand what you are talking about!" Oh gosh, what a game my father was playing. I would've believed him after the thing he said about Wikipedia, but now that my mother asked her questions like that, it made me feel so very, very bad.

"Do not speak to me with that tone of voice, Harlee", my mother snapped. "Eleanor is old enough. She should-"

"Come on!" I interrupted them both. I did not know was I full of rage or was I holding back tears or something. I just felt very... very empty. "Say it already! I'm adopted, I know it! Parents always act like that when they have something very important to say to their child. Don't lie to me. I don't look like either of you, and the thing that happened on my twelfth birthday... Say it, for the damn of it. You don't seem to care at all..."

My father still sat on the crumby couch his eyes on the TV. The halftime show was over, and as the dancing Pacman flew away my father stared at me too.

"Elea..." She started, which made me feel sorta better. I always felt better when I wasn't spoken to in such a formal tone. "You are not adopted."

It felt pretty awkward, then. My insides were so empty, and I felt like there was some sort of breeze blowing there, but it just didn't reach my brain. I stared at the aquarium with an unbelieving expression on my face. I was maybe just about to say something about how I was relieved and stuff, but my father went on. Those words made reality spin around.

"I am not your real father."

I found myself from my bed about 30 minutes after that, or an hour, or a day. I couldn't really say anything about time then. It seemed like there was no time any more, just like the whole existence had just frozen. The birds were dead outside, and I found I was sorta crying. I was hugging myself again - I always did it when I felt something was wrong. I must've looked so damn foolish. Okay, I was relieved that I was not adopted, but... my father. So, Harlee Wood, the coke-guy, not _'dad'_ any more - now I knew, why I was Collins instead of Wood. But how I could've been my mother's daughter? She was an angel, and I was... I didn't even know what I was. Would I have felt more relieved, if my mother would have told me she wasn't really my mum? That my mum was really some really rich woman somewhere out there, maybe living in France or something and wearing every day this pink Chanel suit and her nails manicured so damn pretty. But no - she was my real mother and everything, and my father was really some cursed bum, who maybe was dead just as the birds outside, or then he was just a no-life drunk who had raped my mother or something. Maybe my father was one of those perverts who always stalked me on my birthday. Maybe he came to my house the day I turned 12 and coloured my hair in my sleep, so that I would look more like him, and he would just visit me every year to see how I get older and still he would never say anything to me, because he would be only a bum, nothing else.

My world sorta collapsed then. I remembered though seeing this dream of the cursed stick again - it was there in front of the door of the Paddington's, but... it wasn't upright any more. Now the stick just lay there, fallen, unable to raise itself up. Maybe it symbolised the way my world turned upside down. How my life became a never-ending nightmare - how it made me runaway, so far away, trying to escape but unable to hide. My destiny was probably to end up into some sewer just like my cursed _father_. Rather I'd live there than with a mother, who never told me anything about this - be there safe from those stalking perverts, away from all the pain. It hurt so damn much.

That night I opened the door silent as a whisper in a full-crowded room. Without knowing what a mistake it was, I took with me nothing but my lipbalm and a few coins in the bottom of my pocket. I wore those damn leggings again, but this time I had on a pocketed hoodie. I must've looked like some cursed crook, or one of these damn no-life teens who always sneaked out at night to light a cigarette or something. Closing the door and tiptoing down the steps of the corridor, staring at the night time sky thru the window glass, ready to feel the autumn breeze in my ears and listen to the sound of silence. Outside it smelled like barbecue and wildflowers, and the wind blew away the first falling leaves of the autumn. Our street was so full of maples - they used to glow purple and green, in the autumn in even more beautiful colours. I didn't even know what the clock was, but I just walked without looking back, into the dark night of the starlights. The sky was so full that night - I didn't live in a big city or anything, so there wasn't plenty of light waste in the skies. Even though there were all those constellations in the sky and I was so interested of them because I liked to study horoscopes and the zodiac and everything, I could only recognise Virgo. It must've been because it was my star sign - but the constellation was so boring. It was full of galaxies, though. One of them looked like a sombrero. That's the only thing I actually remembered of it.

The echo of my footsteps sounded so loud. It was like I was suddenly in an empty world without no-one except me, me alone walking the dying earth and killing everything I stepped on. There were no birds stalking me this time, but I kinda wished they would come. They sometimes could actually keep me company. But when they dropped dead they just made me feel so damn lonesome.

So I decided to move away from our neighbourhood, maybe go and walk down the highway or something. I knew there was the creepy tractor path where Pervert #1 had appeared, but I was somehow very sure that no-one would stalk me this time. I had turned already 15, and the perverts only stalked me then. It would though freak the damn out of me, just me and a guy in a you-know-what-jacket in the middle of the night; it sorta made me want to go home again. But for some odd reason, I didn't turn back.

Near the highway it was like the lights just lit themselves up in the middle of darkness. I walked with my hands in my pockets and the streetlights threw a thin shadow on the dark asphalt, and I was sure I could hear a wolf howl. Or then it just was the horn of some dumb bum's car or something, they never cared if it was night or day or did they wake up a thousand citizens or anything. I saw this huge, tall chimney far away - it was darker than the night sky, and _Spica_ of Virgo could be spotted right behind it. As I said, Virgo just lit up on the night sky like the stars wanted to shine themselves out or something. The end of the chimney was lit up with these bright-red lights which seemed to stare at me like some menacing pair of eyes - it was just too creepy. So I kinda decided to walk thru this tunnel near the tractor path, and I just prayed no pervert would catch me then. I didn't though have a light on or anything, so I was pretty much invisible. I could be very inconspicuous if I wanted to. I walked this road often in the daytime, but now that the road was lit by only the starry sky, the moon didn't even shine - and these lights of the highway faraway, I felt so very small. Suddenly I had this horrible feeling that somebody was watching me. It wasn't one of those perverts, that I could tell, but my paranoid gaze wandered to the chimney with the evil lights and I felt shivers going thru my body. I could see the clouds from the horizon as light-waste filled the city sky and they formed all mysterious figures. I was about 100% sure that I saw two gigantic guys - the other one shook his fist and the other one had his middle finger raised up. They were probably supposed to look funny, but they sorta scared me. Like there was some huge force moving up in the clouds, somewhere my gaze couldn't reach.

Then I heard an awful voice. I was right in the middle of the road, so unprotected of the gazes of everyone. For some odd reason I closed my eyes, maybe I thought that if I couldn't see, no-one could see me. But I wasn't a ninja or anything, so I let my eyes open wide and I raised my view - suddenly I could see a chopper in the horizon. It was so very dark, like someone had ripped a hole in the night, and the noise it was making was awful. It freaked me out, so even though I didn't want to, I started to run. It was coming from the way I was moving towards, so I decided to not go home - there it would catch me. So I ran and hid beneath the tunnel.

That thing sounded so creepy. Like the propellers wouldn't have been oiled for a thousand years. I found I was breathing very heavily, so I pushed myself towards the wall in the pitch-black tunnel, but it was as the people inside that flying nightmare could see through the stone, like they had some cursed X-ray camera. I heard sudden voices and doors opening, and closed my eyes again. Why those freaks were after me? It was as if the league of perverts were trying to stalk _Miss Universe_. And I would probably never become her.

I could understand nothing about what those guys were talking of. It wasn't French or English or anything, but some language, somehow familiar, but still odd... I shuddered and turned my backs on them. Even though my lids were open, suddenly I felt like I could still see something – and I screamed noticing a huge guy dressed up as a rapper was standing right in front of me.

I heard footsteps. I must've been panting like a madman. But why was I screaming when I saw a rapper coming to me? My school was full of guys like that. There was still something very extraordinary about this guy… Maybe it was just his smell – he really should've used some deodorant. And his breath… like he had been eating some meat, but… it wasn't animal meat.

"What're ye gal doing here in the middle of the night?" The guy with the bad breath asked. I was trembling so damn bad. "Ye know such _sweets _as ye shouldn't go moving alone this time of the day… but now that we here met, we could just happily sit down and _chew the fat _for a while…"

The guy's way of speech freaked me out. It must've been the most freaky moment of my life – even freakier than the dead birds. It was a miracle I thought of them at a time like that. "Well, what ye say? I'm getting kinda hungry here."

What was that guy talking of? It's like he wasn't even interested of me, he just wanted to get into some cursed hamburger bar or something. I was so damn lucky to have those coins in my pocket, and I was just about to give them to him so he could go and eat something on his own, but then a few other guys stepped up too. I think I almost passed out then. There were now three of them, and they looked like clones, and the chopper seemed now to be empty, and one of them seemed very odd… like there was ketchup dripping off his lips…

"Nice catch here, bro!" This very huge guy with a voice as low as a whale's hollered. "It's just a shame how everyone just leaves the bait this way laying here! They're too easy to catch! I wanna some challenge, what ye say?"

That freaked the damn out of me. They were talking of me like I they were gonna eat me or something. I just wish I wouldn't have guessed right.

"You!" I somehow managed to yell. My voice though was trembling so that it didn't sound great at all. "You must be friends of the perverts! The guys in the long jackets! There's something wrong about you… like you wouldn't even be _human!"_

The whale-guy laughed this creepy, evil way. "From what on have we _seemed _human, sweete? Comma here, gal, let's get started…"

That second I freaked out totally. I didn't know what I was doing, like I couldn't control my own body or something, but things just began to slide very fast since then. I did this very odd sign I hadn't even never seen – I first put my fist on my heart and then pulled the hand out. The freaky guys all looked disgusted, as if I had just mocked their appetite, and they stepped back a few steps like they feared I could turn them into hamburgers or something. Then they seemed to hear some voice I couldn't and I saw light from the end of the tunnel – like a new star would have lit on the night sky, and a blazing white chopper which didn't seem to make any noise to me appeared from the heights. It landed right on top on the black one, which was pretty odd I mean – the chopper seemed so light, but it crushed the black one down like a bug, and the monster guys started running around like madmen. "She would've been such a dish!" The guy with ketchup (or blood) on his face screamed, and he sounded like a girl. "Ye'll pay for this, damn centaur!"

Then they were gone. I shook my head if I had gone mad or something, but there I still stood – in an empty tunnel, with no guys dressed up as rappers, planning to eat me. But the white chopper was still there, the doors opening slowly and so quietly. Before I knew, I was face to face with this man dressed up in a white woolen sweater with some green snowflakes on it. He seemed kinda normal, but old – he had a shaggy beard and long, curly hair, and his brown eyes reflected a lifetime of experience. He looked a little like a teacher. The freaky thing about him was though that there was something wrong with his feet… I at first thought that the dark made me feel drowsy or something and couldn't see things right, but I didn't feel tired at all.

I was staring at a man with the lower body of a horse.

"So, another lost half-blood here," the horse-guy spoke. My eyes must've been the size of plates. "They always go wandering out alone… that Williams girl almost got killed that way. Laestrygonians…" He let out a deep sigh.

Things got seriously freaky then. This guy definitely had great vocabulary. My gaze wandered to the chopper behind – it was so white it seemed to let out its own light. I was pretty much sure, that there was some freak there too. "So, young heroine, wish to join our pleasant company?"

I was led to this freaky glow-in-the-dark-chopper by a half-man, half-horse, who kept calling me a _half-blood_, and I imagined it being just a dream. Even though I wanted to imagine it that way, it seemed to be the coolest dream I've ever seen. Maybe, because I found my life boring and the meeting with those cannibals kinda made me think. Adrenaline was flowing through my body and it made me feel a little damn good. I think this horse-guy seemed to notice it, and it wasn't very great - my voice was sorta trembling and my eyes probably glowed so that I must've looked crazy. I couldn't actually say anything wise, I just kept repeating "What did you call me?" and spinning my head around like it was one of those propellers. The horse-guy just laughed, and it kinda frustrated me. The more frustrated I got when I saw our pilot - he wore this baby blue Hawaii T-shirt and was a long blonde, but he had eyes all over his body. It kinda disgusted me but also interested me; this dream was turning out to be pretty awesome.

"Calm down, mistress," the horse-guy told me after I've asked the same question for a probably thousand times. He was polite and everything, but looked pretty freaky when he sat on this bench on the chopper. "We're about to fly."

I wrinkled my eyebrows and I'm about a 100% sure that after the guy with a million eyes had answered; "Off we go, Chiron!" he had winked at me. It was one of the eyes on his elbow. I sorta started to think how crazy it would be to have that many eyes. And in so many places...

"Oh, what did I call you?" This horse-dude, probably named Chiron turned to me. "A heroine, of course! You're pretty spunky, if I must say. And what was your name again?"

I cast this pretty dark glance at this Chiron. "Sorry, horse-dude," I kept a break, "But I'd pretty much like to know a little about this eh... kidnapping first. And what were those freaks down there? You crushed their chopper and everything!"

I noticed that I didn't swear as much when I was frustrated. It was weird - I kinda became very polite and somehow... menacingly intelligent. It sounds very stupid, but people always thought I sounded very... wise then, and evil, too. I didn't actually know why.

"So... you have never ran to giants before? And I already thought that you would know you are a half-blood! Then I must explain you everything... it is going to be a long night. Argos," Chiron swung his head around to face the eye-guy's multiple glances - "Course to Camp Half-blood!"

"Camp _what?_ You called me with that name before."

"Yes. I guess you have already gotten to know one of your parents is not your real one? Well, it is about time to get to know your real parent. My name is Chiron, the centaur. I will be your tutor for now. And you, young mistress?"

For a second I kinda thought I should lie my name. The chopper made still such a silent noise - we had already risen in the air without me notifying. Our voyage was though a little too bumpy for us to not have risen yet. And how cool would lying my name be in a dream? But now I felt odd - I had kinda always known when I was dreaming, and this time there was no sign of that feeling. I felt just very, very awake, and remembered everything so well - the way I ran from home and came all the way here, and now I was heading to this Camp something, and speaking to a centaur. I remembered a centaur was some sort of mythological creature, but nothing came to mind that moment. Except that the guy was half horse, but Argos, the pilot was a million times freakier. During that voyage I didn't even think about the dead birds. Or... the man who had been my father, but was not real - I didn't even think of my real father as one of those perverts for now.

"This is our pilot Argos", Chiron introduced the eyeball-guy. "He is taking care of order on our camp. But at first, I must tell you something, Eleanor. You like ghost-stories?"

And I just listened to him, not even freaking out about the fact that he had read my thoughts or something, because I hadn't even told him my name. And then I heard the story of my lifetime.

So, this Chiron guy just flipped my world upside down. He started off by asking me about do I believe in magic and such, or miracles etcetera. It was pretty much of a stupid question, because I knew I couldn't answer it. I never thought about things like it, and he kept on calling me a half-blood; and then he started to talk about myths. Okay, not the ones with the dragons and knights, but these had people like gods and all these heroes and heroines in them. I had heard about the Greek myths a few times, but I never thought of them; probably the last time I had heard the name _Zeus_ was when I watched Hercules in the age of six. And this Chiron dude again read my thoughts and started laughing at the fact that how Disney introduced Heracles and how Hades' hair was on fire - then he spoke about the _Lord Of the Dead_ getting so mad that the plans on torturing Mickey Mouse with an eternal marathon of Hannah Montana. Like Mickey Mouse was actually a real person or something. They had ruined him - nowadays he was just a stupid 3D-dude in the TV who looked so real that the kids probably thought of it, but anyway...

I kinda didn't get anything of what Chiron told me. But the thing about it that I caught was that I had been fooled for my whole life.

Okay, all of a sudden I get to know, that these damn Greek gods (there the swearing comes again) rule the world, and everything like these storms and tsunamis and forest fires and probably the global warming happen because of the gods. They seemed like awfully bad guys and everything. Well, and then I got to know that the sun doesn't exist, but he's this god with this name starting with _A_ I couldn't remember, driving from horizon to horizon with some red sports car. And the stars... what the damn was then the constellation of Virgo, and the galaxy looking like a sombrero? These facts sorta... frustrated me.

Now I was going to be taken to the States. I couldn't say where the camp for these half-bloods was because my navigation skills there sucked, but I'd say that it would be far from home. I had never visited Empire State Building either, but if the central of the whole Western World lie there, I should get there sometime. And Chiron just kept on talking, without me getting a chance to ask how in the world did he come just in the right time with his blazing chopper and hush those monsters away. And how I... I, Elea Collins, this Canadian nobody, could be a half-blood?

We flew for an hour or so - I actually couldn't say anything about time during that flight. The most important thing that moment was though that I'd get all the answers to these questions, and maybe finish this dream some time. It started to feel almost too real. And when I heard facts about these Greek gods and heroes, and demigods, people like me, half-bloods; one of my parents was a god too... I didn't know did I pass out or fall asleep, but I remember I had dreamt. I saw this weird dream of where I came to a place, some sort of forest, and there were these all kinds of cabins around me, and trees, very many trees. I remembered seeing figures wearing these dorky orange tees - not that kind of orange my hair was, but danger zone-orange, and they seemed to talk to me or something. Or then just stare. It all seemed to go pretty well at first, but then everything turned upside down... I felt the earthquake so really, that I almost thought I had never dreamt. It ended in darkness.

My memory was blurry from the dream, but when I woke up I felt like I had drunk again lots of coke. That feeling made me a little sad - I started thinking about the way I had abandoned my parents and how awful it would be to them when they wake up and see I'm not there - my mum wouldn't make me coffee any more, write the note or my father leave off to work. Even though I now knew that my real father was a... god, I still couldn't forget the one person that raised me, the one I called 'dad' for 15 years. I just couldn't forget him. He was to me my father - coke-dude, the best of them all. I knew I should call him. This dream... if it wouldn't end, I would have to fix things out. Maybe just to get to know my real father first, then talk to this Chiron about the way they told my life had been a great hoax and then return home. After things would be all right.

"Mm... Chiron?" I raised my head, and the centaur turned around very fast, even though he was a horse in a helicopter. "Do you have... a cell phone or something? So I could phone my parents."

"Oh. As I thought - you ran away from home? Well, visit cabin 14 after you have arrived - newbies always get to use the connection for free. From that on... you should use a _drachma."_

Then Chiron put his hand to his pocket (it was weird, I thought he'd have a hoof for a hand or something) and took out this little satin bag. It clinked as I accepted the gift. Inside the bad there were about 10 golden coins - they looked pretty normal and everything, but on the other side there was this picture of a guy. I could tell right from it that he wasn't ordinary. He had a long dark beard with some light streaks on it, shaped like lightning. The whole guy sorta reminded me of lightning - he had thunder in his eyes and they were about a thousand years old, like Chiron's. Chiron probably noticed the way I stared at the coin and he commented on me; "Yes, that is Zeus. His picture is on every coin. Those will be great use for you - they work on Olympus, in the Underworld, everywhere. Even though I guess you would not have to travel to the Underworld, would you?"

Chiron laughed and dug his elbow to my ribs. I winched and started to think about it - and look at the coin again; it was very odd that Zeus, the ruler of the whole universe, the god of the Sky, wore a pinstripe suit. I kinda always thought gods wore dressing gowns or something. Well, maybe they wanted to stay in fashion too. I had never really thought of it.

Then the things about Lord of the Dead and the Underworld came to my mind. In Hercules, Hades, this guy ruling the realm of the Dead was the ultimate evil, and he spoke in this menacingly quick tone. Suddenly I felt shivers on my whole body when I thought about all the weird things in my life, like the dead birds. I often thought about things dying because of me. And they did. I didn't even know my godly parent yet... could it be Hades?

Chiron had an odd smile on his face when my gaze wandered to him. I didn't know was it because he had read my thoughts again or something, but then he turned to me. "We are there soon," he said, and I felt a temptation to stand up and look out the window or something, but I kinda had a fear that I'd send the helicopter down or crash it into a skyscraper if I'd move anywhere. I'd kill it - just as I kill everything else.

"What age were you, Eleanor?" Chiron asked again. I kinda coughed when he asked that, he sounded always so very formal. But friendly too.

"It's not very appropriate to ask a woman their age, horsie," I raised my eyebrows. Chiron gave me this crooked smile and I kinda felt sorry for him. He must hate his job or something - just carrying kids like me from country to other listening to their witty comments. "I'm fifteen. Call me Elea, please."

Again I felt I had said something wrong. Chiron's eyes widened, and he started rubbing his chin with a mysterious expression on his face. He must've hated my nickname. But when the propellers stopped spinning and we landed to some place I didn't know, he looked only very puzzling. "Follow me to the Main Building, Elea."


	4. I GLANCE TO THE APOCALYPSE OF THE PAST

**PART 2: SIGHT**

I GLANCE TO THE APOCALYPSE OF THE PAST

4. You're probably a total ADHD.

I never thought of myself as ADHD – more like that I had a minimum tolerance for Coca Cola and freaked out the minute I even saw a can of it. And I saw a lot of Coca Cola. But the day when I was taken to a place full of people, freaking out of _everything_, I kinda thought about it. Even though I could never be more ADHD than my friend Marié, who started banging my stuff with a cursed _caduceus_ right the moment she saw that I hadn't brought Coca Cola. Just Diet Coke – and she freaked out if there was no caffeine.

I should've brought Cola to that camp. But I didn't. The minute Chiron had taken me to the main building and my gaze had wandered all around the camp, I knew I was so very empty-handed. The clock must've been 4AM or something, because the stars still shone and it was so silent that the place seemed like a cemetery. I though saw a lot of stuff - we had landed on some sort of hill and everywhere scented of strawberries. The whole place was pretty much of a forest, but I could certainly tell that we weren't in Canada any more - the trees were so different there. I started to feel a little chilly, even though it was more in the South. Maybe it was because I sorta missed my home. I didn't know did I cry or anything, but maybe I was still dreaming. Thinking of it helped me a little.

I usually wasn't awake in that time of the night. I was a damn good sleeper - the minute I closed my eyes I was already visiting the Sandman and I could wake up from the snap of someone's fingers. But I did sleep well, and I wasn't actually ever tired. Only drowsy at times.

Chiron walked in front of me, and his steps echoed on the hill though he walked on grass. It was crazy looking at a centaur walk. It was like I was in a Sci-fi fair or something. This eye-guy Argos also followed me, and I knew I could never escape from him, because he had eyes on his back too. The vision of him winking one of them still haunted me. But for now I just looked around - the place seemed strangely familiar. I wondered was anyone awake at that time. There was only silence and the sound of Chiron's hoofs - and the ocean. I didn't visit the ocean very often, because I lived in such inland. The waves crashed at the rocks and I could hear the rush up there - it was strangely calming, but also somehow inauspicious. The lights of the main building were on even though it was so late and Argos closed the door before me. The place looked just like a hotel lobby or something, and there was this guy sitting behind the desk with a green Hawaii shirt on, the same sort that Argos was wearing. He seemed very young, like a teen, but he seemed to have the beginning of a beard on his chin.

"Oh, Philius, has all gone well?" Chiron's voice rose over the silence.

"Yes. I'm tired, though. Why do all these things happen in night time? What's her name?"

Chiron looked at me. "Eleanor", I said out loud. I'd tough have liked to call myself just Elea. "Collins."

I think I should've said something else too, but my throat just felt very dry and I gulped. And what else could've I said? _I'm Canadian?_

"She is unclaimed," Chiron began. So, that's the term they used of us. Us, whose godly parents were too lousy to tell their kids ever about themselves... "But already 15. She has stayed like that for a strangely long time... Are you sure, Elea, that you have never had any sign of your godly parent? Anything? No guess at all?"

I started to think about the thoughts I got during the flight, and everything else strange. "Well..." I noticed I was mumbling. It sounded so damn stupid. "My hair. It changed colour when I was 12. It was black when I was born... I tried to colour it, but..."

"That could be Iris," The guy behind the desk commented. I noticed he was counting cards. What card game he could play by himself? "Place her in cabin 14, and fast, I think I'm gonna fuse out soon."

"But I still have something!" I continued. "Birds... they die. Things die in my presence. I thought... maybe Hades could be my parent..."

The guy behind the desk suddenly stared at me very wide-eyed. His eyes were all green, and when he rose from the chair, I must've looked as amused as he did. He wasn't a normal teen, but not a half-blood either. He was kinda like Chiron, but he wasn't half horse... half goat.

"Yeah yeah, don't stare at the fur, I'm a satyr, nuthead!" This guy came up to me and Chiron. He seemed to whisper something to the old centaur's ear, but I couldn't hear what.

"So, your guess is Hades... I must say, that it is a very daring guess. Did you know, Elea, that Hades doesn't have any descendants here at the camp? They are all raised in the Underworld since children. Hades would know if one of them would be missing. I think I though, just to be sure, have to make a few calls... pardon if I leave you with Philius and Argos for a minute? Do not worry. You will get to sleep soon."

I kinda nodded my head. Now I was face to face with this young goat boy, Philius the satyr, who held still his deck of card in his hands.

"What're staring at? Come on and play!"

I played at first this card game I've never heard of with a _satyr_ for a fifteen minutes, until Chiron came back from his phone call, and he looked like he'd practically be bawling – I didn't know was his face red of fury or what else. When he saw me he seemed to pale a little, but I couldn't still tell what he was thinking. This Philius guy seemed probably the most tired person I've ever seen in my life – he just kept on yawning like he'd been awake for 24 hours straight. He though won the damn game for three times in a row or something. I'd blame myself there – I never understood the cursed rules, anyway. But I got to know about a million facts there listening to that old goat – that there were a total of five centaurs currently at the camp, and the other five were in schools all around the country seeking for half-bloods. Too bad that I never ran into one of those. It's not pretty hard to recognise a goat when you see one.

"This is so very strange…" Chiron's voice carried in the room as somehow hazy. "I sent an Iris-message to all the gods I believed to be your parent, but none could tell… well, they have never been good in remembering all the children they have, especially the ones who have tons of them, but you are too old to be unclaimed. It did happen before, about ten years ago still someone could remain unclaimed for their whole life, but the gods swore on the River Styx to claim all their children at last the time they turn thirteen. This is indeed very, very mysterious…"  
"So, my guess sucked", Philius sighed. "But PLEASE, take her to cabin 11, I beg you!"  
"I guess you have done the work of your day", Chiron smiled. "Switch turns with Cedric. Elea, before I will send you to the cabin of the unclaimed and the protector of travelers, I think you should see our introduction film. It is right there in the room on the left, lasts about 30 minutes. Can you handle it?"  
"Well, I guess I'm not tired at all", I stood up, and this Philius yawned and stared me his gaze full of envy. I must've bored the damn out of him. Chiron's gaze in my mind, Philius' voice ringing in my ears, I stepped to the movie room.

I've never seen a movie that good quality. Okay, the picture quality was so lousy in the beginning and it was pretty boring when I thought of it, but also kinda interesting, when they got to the cool stuff. It was like I was watching it all on some sort of Powerpoint presentation, but the pictures looked so _alive – _I almost like was a part of the film or something. It started by the words; "Ah, nature!" And Chiron narrating in this awful commercial voice I always hated, and they showed these slideshows with awful quality of picture - pictures of the camp. They must've been filmed a million years ago, maybe in the sixties, I guess, because everyone wore these jeans with huge cuffs and everything. It was like a 50 years ago. Looking at that kind of picture quality made me feel sick - nowadays it was so much better, everything looked so real. But there was still some kind of feeling reflecting from those old pictures in the colours of sepia - children with these orange t-shirts on running with a bow and arrow, singing together by the hearth and just hanging out. But I had never guessed that they'd show such things as riding some horse carriage or fighting with swords, but there they actually came. I hadn't yet really gotten yet what a half-blood actually was; I kinda got the half human, half god-thing, but now it just came to me - we were being trained as heroes. Those giant guys whose chopper had been crushed down had been monsters, and I could remember surely one thing; monsters couldn't die. They just were reborn again, and I knew from that moment that I would never be safe. As soon as I would come home, some freak would come and catch me again. It kinda made me feel dizzy, getting to know all the harsh facts. My life had suddenly turned into a movie or something. One of these fierce, freakin' action films, which never ended to anything good. Or then they were just pretty lousy - they ended with some guy like MacGyver or James Bond making out with some woman who had just bikinis on. I was kinda thankful that this film must've had no rating at all.

After Chiron had narrated about 10 minutes about how great the camp was, the quality and safety to us, the old picture looked like it would have been torn apart and Chiron's voice died. Some pretty cool rock music filled the room, and this text on an orange background of _Camp Half-Blood_ in ancient Greek just exploded on the screen. I didn't understand yet, only afterward, that I had actually read the text on the screen though it was written in a language I had never even thought of - pretty freaky, if I now think of it.

"About 10 years ago..." this guy with a really epic voice started and very dark music continued on playing on the background. "...the history started to repeat itself..."

And then he told me about the coolest story of my whole life. The quality of the film was super, and I couldn't have even told that was it actual footage or just something made up with actors and actresses, because they looked so real, unless there would have read DRAMATIZATION in a great, red font with a damn lot of size on the top of the screen. It told me a story that both fascinated and scared me; how the gods had promised to not have any more half-blooded children, but still there were three of them alive. They had pretty hard names, like Perseus Jackson, Thalia Grace and Nico Di Angelo, and this Perseus dude was probably the only one I could remember after the film ending because he was played by this really handsome guy who had messy black hair and sea-green eyes. He had on this sparkly armour and everything, and I had always liked athletic guys, the ones who actually did some sports, didn't just run in and out of the gym and use some damn steroids. He was the son of this sea god whose name was probably told about a 10 times or something, but I still couldn't remember it. I had kinda never liked long names. Or names with lots of freaky letters and consonants all over the word. That's why Ash, my mum's name was probably the coolest in the universe, even though it didn't have the best meaning ever.

The story caught me already in the beginning. This Perseus dude had a friend, a girl friend, not his _girlfriend,_ but just a friend, who had blonde hair and grey eyes, she looked somehow familiar, and then I got that she was very similar to Sofia. She was very smart and everything and her mother was Athena, the goddess of wisdom, but then in the end she fell in love with this Perseus. And if this Perseus would've accepted the offer of immortality the gods gave him, he'd probably be somewhere up in the skies now and this blonde Athena girl would've have joined the hunters whatever, they mentioned them a few times. This Thalia too had become a hunter, but it was the only thing I pretty much remembered about her – as well to that she was a daughter of Zeus.

My mind started to move where it wanted again. As I stopped concentrating with the film my thoughts immediately went wandering - and I thought about Perseus and his girlfriend. I kinda understood why he didn't accept this offer to become immortal - I'd myself be tired too to just sit up in the heavens for all eternity and he anyway loved the girl, so It'd be pretty cruel to dump just like that. But I kinda thought about the _girl friend to girlfriend_-thing. I had always had many boys as friends, maybe because I was such an athletic and played ice hockey and everything, but never a boyfriend. I just liked them as friends, because they turned pretty damn annoying when they told they like you. This cursed guy had told me that once, and it pretty much broke my heart - I wanted to stay friends with him, just friends, not to do all the kissing and stuff. Boys were sensitive and I was similar to them, so why couldn't I just be treated as one of them?

As well the boy-thing, the film opened my eyes. I was pretty scared then, maybe because I feared that the freaky Titan Lord with those golden eyes would come and eat me or something, it was a little like my fear with Victoria-the-boogieman. This thought though wiped away from my mind after the film ended (with some awesome rock music again) and suddenly I felt very hungry. The sky was all lavender when I, rubbing my eyes, already gotten used to the dark, stepped out of the introduction room. Chiron wasn't there anymore, but this older satyr, maybe 20 or so, with a black short beard noticed me and took me out of the whole Main building. He kept on calling me ELEE-UH, which made me damn annoyed, but I sorta calmed down after we stepped outside. I needed air or something. It was so very beautiful then - the sun was rising, and all the walls of the buildings were reflecting these shades of pink and red, and I could hear singing. It didn't come from inside and it was somehow oddly distinguished, as if it had came out of the depths. It was though pretty enchanting. I almost felt like dancing or something as dumb.

"So you saw the introduction film?" This satyr Cedric asked me. He didn't talk much, and had a pretty sour expression on his face, as if he had been woken up in the middle of a pretty dream. "You know which cabin you'll go into?"

"Philius said eleven", I remembered. "It was for... the travellers and unclaimed. But don't ask me the name of the god. I never remember names like that."

"Hermes", this Cedric commented. He was so damn quiet. He stayed silent for like half an hour after that. We got down this hill all scented of strawberry and the stars were starting to dim themselves out in the dawning sky, but it was pretty and everything. I thought I saw some people moving somewhere down in the valley – they had also these orange tees, and suddenly I remembered dreaming of this; but no earthquake had still occurred. I bet I should tell everyone they shouldn't wear those cursed shirts, in case it would prevent my dream of coming true. I couldn't tell where the figures in the distance half-bloods or what, but they weren't the ones singing. They just seemed to follow the daybreak, and they looked pretty odd as they just ran like maniacs towards the sunrise, as if they would die if they wouldn't. They were coming from a direction hidden beneath the trees - that second I noticed that the trees were beautiful, they were just like sparkling. When Cedric led me to a point where there was this huge rock which looked like a fist or something, I could see downhill; it was a pretty cool sight - about 20 of these cabins forming a shape looking like a square to this central opening - and pretty close to them was some freaky arena with these massive benches, it looked like an cursed amphitheatre or something. It was though empty and everything, but I still felt like something very cool would be happening there. Cedric started to talk to me again when we got closer to the cabins - it was so very silent and a few of them were starting to get lit, so I guessed the clock was about five. I though started thinking about who's crazy enough to wake at that time, but then I thought that there was maybe some god or goddess of the morning or something. As I saw all those 20 cabins I thought that there was some freakin' cabin for a goddess of candy, there were so many of them. It felt sorta ridiculous to me. They looked very different, and Cedric told me the names of the deities who protected these cabins, but I couldn't remember about any of them. I still though thought about this introduction film I saw at the main building; before there had been only 12 cabins (which would have been much less crazy) but after this epic disaster this Perseus and his girlfriend fought in they called the _Half-Blood Heroic War_ or something, more cabins were built to the minor goddesses. The coolest of them was probably cabin 14 or 15, and I remembered Chiron telling me that I should visit the fourteenth. The walls were beautiful; they morphed in every colour of the rainbow forming awesome shapes and figures. I also heard splashing of water, like there was a fountain inside. I was led to this pretty basic cabin with this caduceus glued on the roof Cedric called the Wand of Asclepius. The names freaked me out already then.

"It might be a little full there", Cedric spoke to me when he had led me to the door. The cabins next to it, the Aphrodite and Dionysus cabin, seemed kinda much more appealing to me. There was a funny smell in the Hermes cabin, and Cedric disappeared to the cabin 12 right after he had left me to where I was. I opened the door with a little resistance and tried to not wake up anyone, but there were about 5 people awake already. They stared at me like madmen when I came in.

"Who the Hades are you?" A young girl with dark, braided hair asked me. She was about 11, I guess, and scared the damn out of me as I noticed she was scratching her initials to the floor with a knife. Where had a kid of that age gotten a thing like that? I somehow had a feeling she had stolen it.

I glanced quickly at the letters she had carved - M.E. Behind her there sat some old-looking boy on his bed - there were about a million bunk beds in that room, raising his eyebrows when meeting my eyes. I was kinda confused if he was trying to flirt something or just repeat M.E's question.

"You're a newbie, aren't you?" This girl from the corner asked me. She was totally freaky. I hadn't noticed her before, and suddenly she just jumped out of her bed like a yo-yo or something and gazed at me with clear, blue eyes. All of these kids had the same blue eyes. I almost felt like stepping back out from the door when she just came down from her bunk like she hadn't been sleeping at all, but it was hard to fear her, because she was almost too heads shorter than me. "I can see it, because you're not wearing the camp tee."

The voice that came out of her mouth seemed strangely low to a person that small. Even I sounded totally helium compared to her.

"I came this night", was the only thing I managed to say. I must've looked damn anxious - the cabin seemed already so crowded and anyway full of freaks, so I felt like an outsider. But this little girl, not little in age, but just in size, just kept on staring at me like she wanted to be my freakin' friend or something.

"Okay!" She almost jumped in the air. She was pretty freaky. But not the freakiest one in that room -

there was one really crazy kid in the Hermes cabin. She was unclaimed and looked like a nine-year-old, her name was Olivia Villa or Viola Olive or something I never could remember. The really odd thing about her is that I heard her snoring, but she had her eyes open. I snapped my fingers and everything, and then she suddenly shook her head like she'd woken from a trance or something. I was like _what were you doing?_ And she told me she slept her eyes open. It was freaky. She had hazel eyes like me, but I guess you wouldn't either love staring at something like that. I had been there for only like an hour and it already was too much for me to take. I started counting at the bunks in the room - there were fifteen of them.

"This is the Hermes cabin", the tiny girl spoke to me. "The place for the unclaimed and our siblings. I can see, that you are no sister of mine. No Hermes child has ever had orange hair like yours."

I didn't know did I take it as a compliment or something. I didn't know anything about this Hermes dude, so it was kinda hard to me to know if he was a cool god, but I could say that I sure looked different than the kids here. They were pretty short everyone of them except that boy who damn winked at me. Especially this girl who still stood in front of me with a constant cunning expression on her face, like she could prank me any time. Her hair looked so soft when I then noticed it - it was like cotton. I was pretty much sure that she dyed it blonde. She seemed nice and everything, but I didn't even know her cursed age.

"Okay, so you wanna know about me?" I started again to sound pretty arrogant, because I wasn't frustrated or anything, more just like confused. "Please. It's five AM. Why in the... Hades you're even awake in that time of the day?"

"I woke up to hear the naiads sing", the girl with the knife told me. I freaked out to notice she wanted to even talk to me after scaring me like that. Maybe she liked the way I replaced all the dirty words I used to know with _Hades_. I though wanted to be pretty careful with that name - I still had the doubts of him being my father and everything. It's not like I wanted help from him every damn second or something.

This shortie came right next to me, trying to whisper me something, so I had to bend over to hear what she was saying. "She's May Everdale", I heard her whisper, and my gaze obviously wondered at this one person. "I don't really like her. I don't like the kids living in this cabin. But I like to talk to people like you, the unclaimed newcomers here. And people from other cabins. Apollo kids, mostly."

"But I'm not an Apollo kid!" Oh curse my voice, it was so loud that the Everdale girl probably hated me already or something.

"That's what you don't know. But I bet you'd already foreseen me or something if you were one of them. I take flute lessons of this 16-year old there, Fredrick Hayes. He's super!"

"Stop giving me the names, tiny", I almost poked the little one or something. "I don't even know _your _name. Please tell me that it's not anything like Berenice or Claudia or something, I hate long names."

"Oh, I'm Marié Elton", she told me with this curiously soft voice. "But there's a girl called Berenice on this camp. She's in cabin 16. And some Claudia girl too. I bet she was from Aphrodite…"

"Elea Collins", I told this Marié, and almost gave her my damn hand. I was starting to act so unnaturally polite.

Okay, I start to feel kinda evil every time I say I don't usually hang out with folk like Marié. I mean 14-year olds who look like they're ten or something, even though I myself ought to have looked so much younger than them. This Marié had even been born on the same year as me and after I introduced myself to her, she switched to her casual clothes in like 5 seconds and dragged me out like we'd been friends for a lifetime. She was nice, but a little too affectionate, emotional too. And she almost started screaming when I said that her hair looked pretty. I should never say things like that - people always start screaming then.

Well, I have to admit that it was kinda surprising I already had company - I had just arrived to this crazy place. This Marié had been there for only like a year, but she seemed to know the place like her own pockets (though she didn't even have pockets, she wore a skirt all the time.) She was about to tell me all of each and every cabin, but I didn't want to listen things like that in that time of the morning. I didn't even have a bunk, curse that. This was turning out to be a pretty lousy camp if they couldn't offer a bed to someone who had been awake for about 24 hours straight. I mean, I last slept in the helicopter about 4 hours since then. I wasn't tired or anything, and it was strange - I could stay up for hours without even feeling exhaustion, and I would've called myself as a freakin' Duracell Bunny if this Marié wouldn't have been the most ADHD person I had ever seen in my life.

One of these satyrs from the Dionysus cabin appeared in about an half an hour time from since Marié had taken me out and told about everything about the camp - the chariot races and all that cool stuff. I was kinda starting to get excited, but I felt that next Marié was gonna tell me her whole damn life story, which didn't really interest me yet. But this satyr coming to us wasn't either Cedric or Philius; he called himself Will and was pretty nice, but somehow goofy. He laughed all the time and wore these very stupid shoes which made him look like the sad clown or something. He told me I needed to get to the Main Building and Marié stalked me there like she wanted to become my bodyguard. Chiron was waiting me there, and thank gods he didn't look so pale any more - I hated when people looked pale because of me. I hated when people did anything because of me. But this Marié, the girl I just met, seemed very much like one of these people - she'd sell her cursed _soul_ for me even though we'd known for a 30 minutes.

It was already breaking dawn when I spoke to Chiron again. This time he gave me something to have with to the cabin - he said it was a matter of principle, because no camper should be where I was empty-handed; I got the orange camp tee, which seemed like a bad omen to me, and he said I'd get a bed from the Hermes bed as soon as few arrangements would be made - and he told me to take good care of my money. I had almost forgotten that I actually had a few drachmas in my pocket. Marié told me that Hermes was also the protector of thieves - that's maybe the reason everyone there seemed so freaky.

"If you find us Hermes kids freaky," Marié told me after Chiron had sent me on my way and told me good luck, "I bet you'll die on this camp or something."

It didn't sound very encouraging. I kinda had this feeling I wasn't safe even in my own cabin, though it wasn't permanent or anything. "Seen the kids in cabin 15?"

"The evil-looking place?" I had seen this cabin before, and it looked actually evil - not like school-bully evil or that kind of evil all these bad guys in TV were, but I could sense already from looking at the place that the kids there would be pretty badass. It was the cabin for Nemesis, goddess of Revenge, and it had been built about a year after this Half Blood war everyone always spoke of. It was entirely made of black marble and there were purple gemstones attached in different places - for example the door knob was just a huge gemstone. The odd thing about it was it that it was in the middle of the damn door - the whole building with the spikes on the roof and everything was absolutely symmetrical, because Nemesis was also the goddess of balance, and she couldn't stand seeing some door knob in a place people would see it as more natural. I kinda started to believe what Marié told about the Nemesis children - they had won the chariot races about every year since they had came, they won always if the Nike kids didn't enter the races. I got to know about them too - there were only three children in the Nike cabin, the one for the goddess of victory - it had been there only for a while. There I could remember the name Berenice, and her name literally meant bringing victory in Greek, and as I could now understand it like I've read it my whole life, I almost tried to walk through walls and stuff, because that should be possible in dreams and everything, but I just managed to squeeze my already flat nose. Marié's way of laughing to my nose didn't help me at all. I bet I swore that moment like no-one had ever done on the camp.


	5. I MEET FOLK WITH STRANGE EYE CONTACTS

**PART 2: SIGHT**

I MEET LOTS OF FOLK WITH STRANGE EYE-CONTACTS

As the clock began to turn eight and it was already light, people started to wake up and we returned to the cabins. We didn't go inside, but Marié and I walked past them all and she explained me the history of almost all of them. She though didn't talk much about the cabins she really didn't care of - she babbled for an hour about the Apollo cabin and something about how she owned a golden flute that she played with her tutor Fredrick, but if she played some right tune this flute would turn into a caduceus. I was kinda confused of what damage could actually be done by some damn _flute,_ but then she told that in the caduceus form spikes would emerge from the ends - that didn't sound very nice to me.

By the time clock struck nine, I already knew even who the crazy daybreak-chasers in the morning had seen. They were the children of Hemera, the goddess of daytime, and they were known to always chase the sunrise, because they had a crush on Apollo and they got their energy from the day. I hadn't even noticed what their cabin looked like before, but it was just because at night time it almost became invisible - and at daytime it seemed to go chameleon, so if I looked at it laying on the steps or something it would turn the colour of the sky. It was one of the minor cabins and the Hemera kids never actually did anything interesting, and no-one actually fancied them because they always went to sleep before the sun went down, and in wintertime that was like four PM. There were also a few other pretty random goddesses, like this Philyra, and I could remember her name because she actually was the goddess of _paper_ - and perfume, beauty too, and that's why all the Philyra kids were thought of Aphrodite children at first. I had seen a few of them, and they looked strangely like Chiron - later I found out that Philyra was Chiron's mother. It kinda made me shudder.

There was this cabin for some goddess of life in the sea and for Nike of course, but the one I remembered the best was probably the cabin number 14. It was for Iris, and this cabin I should visit if I wished to talk to my parents. Marié was guiding me, and we knocked at the door the time we heard voices inside - we didn't want to wake anyone up. The cabin was strangely empty – there were only four children there, two boys and two girls. There were five beds though, I wonder why there was one extra.

"You're new, aren't you?" This boy with chocolate-brown hair asked. I couldn't tell what colour his eyes were - they looked grey at first, but then brown and blue, like they were shifting their colour. "Want to use the Iris Connection for free?"

I kinda turned over to Marié to ask for help - I didn't really even know what this Iris Connection was, Chiron had just told that I could phone my parents with it - I started to sorta think of some rainbow banana phone.

"You need a drachma," Marié whispered, and I started to dig my pockets - Zeus' face stared at me menacingly.

"Since I've never seen you before you'll let to use it without a fee," the boy continued. He looked like the leader or something. "But first you must answer a riddle I give you."

Marié looked at the boy with this greedy but sorta unbelieving expression I couldn't really read. But it seemed like the time Marié had came this connection had been absolutely free - no nosy boys to tell me riddles. Thank gods I was good in them - in school and everything, I had to solve all the puzzles and whatever because all others were too lousy to do that, and I was the best in them anyway.

"I will test your knowledge in Ancient Greek history! Who was rumored to be the lover of our mother, Iris?"

I glanced at the guy in this very dark way, but he just raised his eyebrows - everyone seemed to raise their eyebrows down there. Marié seemed to be forming some name there silent, but I had never been able to read from lips.

"Or then just tell us your godly parent," one of the Iris girls told, and the boy looked frustrated, yelling: "No-one _ever_ answers the riddle!"

Both of the questions were kinda tricky. Okay, I'd rather have told my godly parent than answered the riddle, but I didn't know it or anything, so I decided to guess something. These fools wouldn't any way even believe if I told my father was Hades.

"Zeus?" I guessed, because he was anyway again one of the only names I remembered, and the boy let out this great yawn.

"Wrong!" He sounded like some damn siren. "Out you go. Come back richer."

"But I got money!" I told, but the boy didn't seem interested in that - maybe he was insulted by the way I was shipping Iris with Zeus. I started to feel sorta sad as we walked out; I hadn't gotten to know about nothing. And Marié started to tell me again about the cabins I hadn't seen before - maybe it was because I saw this girl with golden hair and _violet_ eyes in front of the cabin just next to the Iris one, and she stared me with this maniac expression. She didn't even have these Elizabeth Taylor-type of violet eyes which still had a hint of blue and everything, but those were like purple paint, and they weren't even eye contacts. As I exchanged looks with the freaky girl on the steps, the floor flew straight open and six of these freaks with the same golden hair and same purple eyes stepped out all in a line, and they all looked pretty young. "Let's go, Aradia!" Some boy with this voice like a squirrel's shouted, and everyone started following the girl who had stalked me for like a million minutes and I was left there with only a stupid expression on my face.

"They're the Hecate kids," Marié told me. "Hecate is the goddess of magic. Let's just say... that they're pretty much like the Hermes kids... except they're in a bad shape because they think they can kill all monsters with magic and they never practice fighting with actual weapons. They're younger, of course. Aradia Peaks is the oldest, and she's only twelve. The youngest was seven, if I remember right."

I sorta nodded my head and suddenly was dragged to the side by Marié - the Iris door opened, and if I would've still stood there I'd have hurt my neck pretty badly. The boy with the rainbow eyes glared at me mysteriously and the four kids moved off to follow the Hecate children - soon 9 people from the Nemesis cabin appeared too - they looked all Asian with their dark features and they had pretty evil eyebrows. They didn't even seem to be noticing me, which was kinda great. I didn't really want to get to know them - they looked so evil.

The cabin doors kept on opening - after the Nemesis kids three children from the Nike cabin appeared - an athletic girl with short, shaggy hair and an awesome tan, with two boys who looked like twins. After them I saw this cabin I hadn't noticed before - it was made fully of silver and had flower petals on the walls and the roof, and I felt the scent of the cabin up there. There were also only three children, and in the next one there was only two. "They're gathering for breakfast," Marié commented, and I was kinda anxious to eat with some people I didn't even know. It was a little mean that there were about 100 kids on the camp and they didn't even know each other - it was like one cabin was only one person, and I could right away notice that each of them seemed to have a leader. All of the cabins had already gotten to breakfast as I and Marié started moving, and I was pretty surprised by the way the place we ate in looked like. It was like some ancient Greek theatre or something. I must've looked like some damn angst kid with the black hoodie and everything, but I wouldn't start changing my tee right in the middle of 100 people.

Chiron kept some cursed speech there, but I couldn't really listen to it, because the Hermes table acted worthy of a zoo or something. I couldn't hear my own thoughts or anything.

I was squished between Marié and some random Daphne Richards, because I was just a little younger than her and I was about 6 months older than Marié - we sat there in some damn age order. The unclaimed were there too, and now as I looked at the faces of the ones definitely not Hermes children I could see I was the oldest of them. Some though looked pretty familiar, like I had seen their faces before, so I sorta started guessing their godly parents. There was this freaky Olivia Villa and I had no idea of her, but I could tell that Uma Clifford's, this 10-year olds mother was definitely Hecate – her eyes were blue, but looked kinda lavender, and I was like why she still was in that table. The youngest of them, a girl called Dido Keene, had pretty deep blue eyes, not electric blue, but somehow mysterious. I felt very _outsider_ as sitting in that table. Marié didn't even talk to me or anything. She didn't talk to _anyone_ – like she hated to be in that table.

* * *

Marié was probably one of the most mysterious people I had ever met. After we returned to the crowded cabin I changed to the camp tee and viewed myself from the mirror Marié gave me - she told me that she got it from the Aphrodite cabin, and I noticed that under her bunk there were about three pairs of high heels - all borrowed from the Aphrodite cabin. The tee looked nice on me, and when putting it on I finally understood - here I had come, there I were, and there would be no going back until I had solved things out. People also seemed to accept me better when I wore that shirt, the day seemed to end so fast, and before I even knew, I was already in a bed that had been reserved for me - it looked mysteriously like the empty one I had seen in the Iris cabin. I didn't sleep in the same bunk or anything with Marié, but her bed was pretty close to mine, and I could speak to her when all the others were already asleep. Marié was wondering how I could stay awake so long - I had been awake for almost two days straight. It seemed pretty strange as I thought about it. I would sleep for the whole day or something.

"Who... were you with here, before I came?"

Marié seemed a little excited of the question. As I stared at the ceiling just from a bed without even an upper bunk, Marié leaned over from hers to see my face. I saw the roof as pretty boring, and Marié said that she was dreaming of the one on Mount Olympus - it had moving constellations on it, and it would be like sleeping outside. I loved to watch the stars - Marié too. We turned out to be pretty similar when I later thought about it.

"I used to hang out with people from different cabins..." Marié spoke and stared out the window - it was facing the way where we could see cabins 1-10, as ours was the eleventh. It was though strange - I was seeing _eleven_ of them.

"What's that one there, right next to the Zeus cabin?" I asked Marié - I hadn't really paid attention to the cabins of the Big Three - Marié had told me about them a little, but I didn't even know who lived there... yet. I would know about it just too soon.

"Do you mean Hera?"

I shook my head. The Hera cabin was pretty and everything, but there lived nobody and I wasn't even interested of it. I was staring straight at the gloomy-coloured torches lighting up a dark cabin with a skull and crossed bones on top of the door, it looked like a pirate cabin or something. It was mysteriously beautiful, but somehow devious. I think I spotted a tiny 0 on the door - like it had been the cabin's number.

"Oh, that? It's the Hades cabin."

Whoa. I hadn't seen that one before. And as if Marié would be reading my thoughts (I hated when I felt like that - I felt like it all the time.) she turned her head to direct her gaze also to the Hades cabin. "It's not visible at daytime. Or mainly just because no-one lives in it. If someone would be there, we would of course see it, but there aren't any Hades kids here... And the number is zero, because it isn't an actual cabin, and Hades himself accepted that number and all. Anyway, doesn't zero somehow resemble death and all: the end and the beginning?"

I was usually full of questions when people had told me things like that, but this time I had just this very weird feeling that I couldn't ask anything more than why Hades didn't have children on the camp. He was a pretty great god anyway. But I didn't even have time to ask that, because I noticed that Marié wasn't leaning any more over the edge of her bed and I heard only silence, and maybe some bugs having a concert outside - I had probably never been in such harmony. Maybe if I would go outside I'd see a million constellations and everything - and those Virgo galaxies... though they weren't even _real_.

I felt also my eyes closing slowly. I didn't know of what I thought before I woke up, but I knew one thing; the dreams I saw that night led me into a terrible mess.

* * *

In the morning... well I couldn't say either of what I dreamt of, but the dream was pretty real and I was pretty determined when I saw it. I really, really desired to know my godly parent. But still, I couldn't remember more godly names than Zeus and Hades, and these female goddesses (Hermes too, of course, but I knew I wasn't his daughter.) And as I said before; my dreams never led to anything good.

Marié wasn't there when my eyes opened again. I had slept well, I guess, but somehow I felt very exhausted when waking up. I had to get to breakfast though, and phone my mother too; maybe this time I could use the Iris connection for free.

As I tried to drag myself to the door, I though felt a pretty funny feeling - like I was collapsing on the floor or something. Thank gods this one boy, he was probably 12 or something, with the first name Pruce was there too, and he helped me back to bed. Chiron wouldn't kill me or anything even though I'd leave breakfast uneaten this time, so I laid down and closed my eyes again, wishing thanks to this Pruce. I owed something to him.

"Elea? Is that you?"

That was definitely my mother's voice. I could tell it any time. I was though pretty confused what I was doing there - just a few seconds ago I had been at the States... Camp Half-blood.

So I kept in mind. But meeting my mother was the greatest present - though I knew that I was still a little angry to her for not telling me anything about my real father in fifteen years, or even that she had an affair with some _god_ and that's why I was born. I think I was looking at her from the kitchen, and I was a little confused how I actually was there - not the way why I had appeared there, but how did I look to my mother - I didn't see my own body or anything. Like my spirit was there alone, or I saw my mother from a film or something.

"Yeah," I said, and though it sounded stupid, my mum almost came to hug me. She though seemed also confused of the fact how could she do it - I didn't have a body or anything. "Missed me?"

"I did," she sounded relieved, how nice. She didn't even seem mad. "Oh… we should have explained you everything. Harlee sort of guessed that you would run away…"

Was that my mother laughing? Like she was amused of the fact that I actually escaped.

"Oh…" I sounded pretty awkward. "I understand you. It would've been hard for me too. Did my father… he ever tell you anything?"

My mother was silent for a moment. She seemed to gaze somewhere into my direction, but she wasn't looking at me, more like through me. "That he is a… god? He did."

"What god? What did he look like? Do I look like him?"

"I believe you do... but I am not sure can I answer your question! I honestly don't remember... it was all like a dream - a lovely, wonderful dream..."

Just like my life for now. It wasn't pretty _wonderful _or anything, but pretty unreal anyway. I was like 100% sure, that those boys I dumped by not getting into their hockey game would believe me just over their dead bodies. I myself didn't even know how to comment on my mother's explanation of my father. It must've been terrible; just forgetting him like that. Did my father want my mother to be… just wiped away from her life? Or was my mother just really in such a pink, fluffy cloud, so deep in her amber dreams, that she saw only an angel, no more? Could she even remember his face? Maybe by looking at me, yes. But what was the point in it- I didn't even have a face in that damn stupid dream.

"I… I have guesses about him," I dared to tell, but I felt stupid later of saying it. "But I don't know can they be real… and if I told you the name, could you remember?"  
My mother sorta shook her head. She looked kinda pathetic, made me feel sorry. I felt empathy – I usually didn't do that with my mother, but this time it was different. She had led me into this life, into this mess I would soon get into. Just like a spider web I would get tangled to, but to escape, I should do that myself – by my own decisions. And it was so damn hard to make big decisions, something… serious.

"Send me my greetings if you'll meet him," my mother smiled. "Whatever you do… remember, that this is just for your own good. You don't have to live that life, if you don't wish to. But for now… it might be safer for you."  
"Why didn't you tell me before?" I asked my mother. Stupid question. She hated questions like that.

"I…" She bowed her head. Her hair was sure pretty blonde. I wonder did Hades have orange hair. In Hercules the guy was all blue and had flames on his head and everything, so by that I couldn't tell. I just wished that I wouldn't have to face the things Hercules – or Heracles had to – like swimming in the River Styx and everything.

I was still waiting for my mother's answer. "I…" She repeated, but that was pretty much the only thing she could say. Suddenly I heard this crackling sound that came from like an old film, and the picture seemed to get blurry. Then I noticed that I wasn't in the kitchen any more. And didn't see my mother there, but someone with pretty much the same looks – platinum blonde hair, blue eyes.

Marié.

Pretty much the only thing I remembered seeing after that blackness was a name written in fiery letters on the blackness. Like ink on fire. Ελαία. That must've been my name written in Greek. And what was going on now, well… I was only staring into Marié's endless gaze, seeing a path in her eyes, a silvery road with many turns on the way – my path on the way of life.

It would start just about… then.


	6. MY WORLD TURNS UPSIDE DOWN

MY WORLD TURNS UPSIDE DOWN

The day went all pretty well when I woke up and everything, but I didn't eat breakfast. When lunchtime then arrived (and so soon, I hadn't even time to do anything!) I had this weird feeling of something big happening soon. I had it sometimes - it was pretty freaky. The Hermes table seemed emptier that day, thank gods, and I got to know that the Uma girl had then finally got claimed - by Hecate, of course. I was good in guessing things. Marié seemed very concerned and started to apologise about the way she just left me in the morning, though I thought she did it for nothing - she hadn't even done anything wrong. It was me who got too greedy and wanted to sleep all the time. And now she told about everyone that I had been awake for about 48 hours straight, which made me frustrated. I liked when people started bragging instead of me about all the great things I had done - like _look! Elea just made the most goals in this hockey game!_ That feeling was the greatest, but when someone acted like Marié... well, it wasn't as nice.

The good thing of that lunch was that I got to meet a new person. I bet many people knew me already - Marié had probably told my name to everyone on the camp on the past 24 hours. This Stella Avalon or something, she was Marié's friend from Aphrodite - waved to me and everything, but I hadn't even seen her ever before. I wondered had the things Marié had told of me been positive or negative.

Well... I met this one Hephaestus kid in the line we were leaving from the cafeteria, from cabin eight. She was pretty curious, I saw it right from the beginning. She told me her name was Gracie Calliope Hill - she even bothered to tell me her _second_ name, and her appearance was pretty unusual. She had this somehow constantly horrid expression on her thin, freckle-stained face, and her reddish hair was so curly that I bet it wasn't straight even when it was wet. I looked straight away into her eyes - they weren't actually beautiful, but pretty exciting anyway - dark brown and somehow fiery, like I had seen flames in them. She was taller than I was though she was only 13, and also had a slim shape and pretty nice build, I didn't know was I beginning to get jealous or what. Her skin looked though a little nasty - a little pinkish like it was burnt, and she was all on bruises, her capris rippled and everything, like she had been attacked by a cursed lion or something.

I even made the mistake to tell her I suspected Hades was my godly parent - I didn't know why the damn I did that, but I still told it. Pretty quiet it was, anyway. Thank gods she was a good listener, even though I thought I saw her other ear missing a part, but when she noticed that it was visible she seemed to blush and she brushed her hair quick over her face, like she was embarrassed of it or something.

I also told her about these freaky dreams I had. She told me it was pretty normal for a demigod - she had herself never really known she was a half-blood, until she noticed she could control the fire and one of her twin sisters, Cleo, who could see through the mist, had said about it - and pretty soon Gracie's mother had already told the girl the whole story, and the night after she had a dream of seeing the location of Camp Half-blood. Marié also took part in the conversation, but she hadn't never seen those dreams, maybe because she had lived in Europe and moved to the States just about a year before arriving to the camp. I got to know things about Marié I didn't know before, though - like that her best friend Doris, a daughter of Demeter, had been with her when they travelled to camp half-blood, but Doris had joined the hunters on the way and after Marié asked to do the same, they had denied her. That was pretty evil of them - but I didn't even ever think of the hunters - because I had interest in boys and everything, the friend-kinda interest, and I kinda thought becoming a hunter would need an eternal denial for boys and everything.

Marié was then just about to talk about her mother meeting Hermes in Greece and everything, but she was kinda... stopped. It was my fault, that's what I could say. Gracie, who was in front of me in the line, had sorta sacrificed her last chicken wing to the gods, and whispered the name _Hephaestus_ when doing that whole ritual thing and everything, and when it came my time I did the same thing, but prayed silently for my father to show up, _that minute_ and everything.

Okay, Gracie was pretty disappointed that it didn't happen the way she had thought it to happen - like this son of Hades who was almost 30 already, Nico Di Angelo, Lord of Spirits, would open a crack in the ground and appear with his flaming DEATH-chariot, but nothing like that did happen. I just remembered that it came this moment that resembled my dream with the campers in the orange tees like 100%, but there came no earthquake or anything - I just remembered that after sacrificing my piece of meat (which Marié later guessed to be from a black sheep) and feeling this scent of something I couldn't think of, some pretty freaky symbol lit over my head and I heard this awful noise. It sounded like _murder, _like this bunch of super-menacing crows and all the birds in the universe would start mocking me, and then the whole world collapsing - and later I found out it was only me. I had passed out or something. It was scary - maybe, because I never passed out. It felt sorta like sleeping, except it hurt so much more, and after awakening my head hurt so damn much and there were about 30 campers around me. Marié was right in front of me, and I noticed she looked exhausted, like she had just run a mile.

"Marié? Is something wrong?"

Marié closed her eyes and shook her head. "Elea, why are you asking that? It's _me_ that should ask the question from _you!"_

Gracie was there too, leaning over to me, right next to my ear. "She just woke you up", Gracie whispered. "She's the daughter of Hermes, Elea. Hermes is the protector of healers."

It took me a while to connect the things, but when I got it, the thing was pretty cool. So Marié had some healing powers? But I was still confused more than amused, because I had this weird feeling I had missed something important…

"So… no epic chariot to show up this time…"

That second I remembered how serious this could be – Gracie had just guessed the things about Nico Di Angelo and everything, but I didn't see anybody. No crack in the ground at all. "What…"

"I didn't know you'd be so _surprised…" _Gracie continued, staring into the distance. "Even _I_ didn't faint when Hephaestus told me he was my father… I… and I faint a lot."

"Why do you?" I asked. That was definitely the moment when I looked stupid. "You look tough and everything."  
"I fear blood", Gracie continued, and suddenly I noticed how big the cuts on her knees were – it must've been rough to be a Hephaestus kid. I nodded my head and rose up – I hated happenings like this – tonnes of people staring at me because something strange or stupid had happened to me, or then I was the one doing the stupid stuff. "What're you staring at?" I snapped at the watchers. Gods, there were kids from _each and every _cabin. I was like the local celebrity now or something.

These boys in the front, I think they were Ares children or something, because they looked so tough – pointed over my head with trembling fingers, which made me almost yawn. I stood up and shook my head as if to shoo away the exhaustion and I let Marié lean on me – healing people just like that must take her strength. I could spot many familiar faces from the watchers; May Everdale from the Hermes cabin, Berenice Taylor, the daughter of Nike, even Frederick Hayes, this good-looking guy from the Apollo cabin with amber eyes. And Pruce, the young boy who had almost saved my _life _in the morning.

"You, Elea," a familiar voice said right behind me, and I turned over so quick as if someone had whipped me. "Are a good guesser."

Chiron stared at me with his thousand-year-old eyes and held a bunch of keys in his right hand – the other held a bow, as if he was there to prevent danger from happening. I couldn't say where those keys worked in, but before I even knew, I was led into a cabin seldom before seen in the daylight by half of the people on the cabin – right next to the cabins of the Big Three.

There were about a million versions of these happenings after lunch. Marié and Gracie, who of course had been there all the time, told me a pretty accurate story - about how I had sacrificed the lamb meat or something, I didn't even remember it any more, to some god I didn't know then, and after that I had stared to the distance for about a minute, and this freaky symbol had just appeared over my head and hovered there for a few seconds - a damn _helmet_ glowing pitch-black. It sounded so stupid that I would've even laughed at it in a normal solution, but this time it was serious. Hades, the Lord of the Dead, Hercules' nemesis from the movie by Disney had just claimed me, even though all of his kids were in the underworld. How could've that happened? I had guessed and everything that Hades would be my parent because it was pretty obvious, but maybe also because he was about the only male god whose name I could remember. And then, after this chain of events which had taken time for only about two minutes, I had passed out for a time that seemed like a million years to Marié and the others. But for me... it was only a second of silence, darkness, emptiness.

As well, I heard pretty stupid versions of the story, like one that was pretty similar to Gracie's epic guess of Nico Di Angelo (she said _epic_ way too many times) - some story about me sacrificing a black sheep to Hades and then the earth had just cracked open and some Hades kid would've come out screaming - and everyone thought she'd be a daughter of Persephone or something because they always came out of nowhere screaming, and she'd just like scream the whole damn thing about my father to my ears. "What's the whole fuss about the black sheep?" I asked Gracie, who also spoke about them all the time - and she just told me that people used to sacrifice black sheep and animals like that to Hades in the ancient times. It sounded pretty freaky. Like I had been possessed by an evil spirit or something as crazy.

My group of 'buddies' pretty much changed that minute. I had already gotten to know pretty well what happened in the other end of the cabins - like cabin 11 and up, but suddenly I was taken back to zero, and that end was pretty much more empty than the other. It was probably because there were the Artemis and Hera cabins and all, and they never had children with mortals. Gracie, who had been on the camp already since she was ten, told me that there had been more children before in the first cabins – Apollo, Aphrodite, Athena and Hermes had always been full, but deities like Ares used to have more children in the past. There used to be a girl from the Ares cabin on the camp the year Gracie entered it, and it had been the last year for that one camper, but she had anyway been there since the Half-blood Heroic War. Somehow Ares just decided to have less children after it, and no-one actually knew the reason; Ares had _honour_ and everything in the war. Another strange thing was the thing about the Big Three. They had a permission to get new kids after the war, and before it there had been only about three of them, but still… the amount was very minimal, like Zeus and the others feared that history would repeat itself – again. For about two years ago, the time Gracie had been there for a year, a girl called Erin Bronte Grinder, had came to the camp safe and sound and stayed there since that – just because she happened to be a daughter of Zeus. Her coming seemed like a warning sign, maybe because she looked just like her half-sister Thalia Grace, the hunter. I had seen her maybe once, but as I already told, I had hanged out so much with the campers from the other side I didn't even know how she was like. That day was probably the first time I actually saw her close – she was a fit girl with ivory skin and boy-short black hair she cut herself. She had a knife tied to her ankle and looked pretty dangerous, and she was with this boy with also black hair, shaped like waves, but green eyes, and if I wasn't mistaken, they were holding hands. This Erin had all the time a pretty robotic expression on her face, and her _boyfriend _then… I think he noticed me or something, because I could feel the way his sharp gaze pierced through me; the feeling was pretty freaky, it made me feel sorta cold. He wore the camp necklace, but it had only one pearl in it – orange, with a lightning bolt and trident crossing.

I felt pretty damn lonesome when staying in cabin number zero. I literally felt like a zero, nothing, because Marié was now in a cabin a million miles away and Gracie wasn't there either. There was only Erin Bronte Grinder, right behind the wall next to me, in that cabin that looked so pretty and polished. My cabin… well, it looked so much prettier from the outside. The green torches didn't burn at daytime, and when it wasn't night it totally felt like a cemetery, the deity protecting is was anyway the Lord of the Dead and everything. The only guest there with me was death, and it was just too bad I couldn't speak to it.

And just as I thought that nothing more freaky could happen to me, the fate just decided to go against me. Again. It always did that.

It all started from me meeting the people from the cabins by that side of the camp. During the campfire in the evening, we were sorta split in three, because there were 19 occupied cabins on the camp as no-one lived in the Hera or Artemis cabins: so I was sitting in this bunch of kids from the Zeus, Poseidon, Demeter, Ares, Athena and of course my own; Hades cabin, as Marié got to be with people from cabins from Apollo to Hecate, and there was sure a lot of folk. I noticed right away that Marié's bunch was the most noisy – and we sat around like a three bonfires – the one at Marié's bunch seemed to burn glowing blue – it was pretty freaky. The folk from the Iris cabin to the Philyra cabin… they sure made a lot of noise, but they weren't _together – _they just sat in the same place, but didn't have contact with each other, really. The Hemera kids were all in one bunch and the Nemesis children seemed to mock on everyone, and I guess the main reason to them being so separate was that the whole group consisted of these _families _of about five people – and compared to Marié's group, which consisted of families of up to _10 _people… it was pretty different.

Where I sat I was lonely. Even the Hephaestus cabiners weren't there – and Gracie sat there next to Marié, they just roasting marshmallows with these super happy expressions on their faces. At our bonfire it was somehow oddly silent – the Demeter kids talked there together a little and the Athena children had kinda like an inner circle, but we from the Zeus, Poseidon and Ares cabin formed this other group of people who just did nothing there. I sat very close to Erin Grinder – with her boyfriend whose name I didn't yet know.

"Well, if it isn't daughter of Hades!" some girl I didn't recognise started. She looked pretty old, like she was already 18. "How's down in the Underworld?"

She had a pretty nasty expression. The red bonfire seemed to make her face look rough – and her look tough all the same. She had brown, straight hair she tied with a red scarf, but her bangs were sorta wavy, which seemed strange to me. Her clothes were also pretty odd – the top she was wearing looked simply like a potato sack with blood spilled on it, and she was holding a spear even on the bonfire, as if she were up to catch some boar with it.

"I've never been there," I raised my eyebrows to the girl – everybody did it, so why wouldn't I? "I came here like 48 hours ago."  
"Yeah… uncle's never been very precise. You know that the time when I got here, there was a boy in the Hades cabin? He wasn't even a child of him, actually, but there wasn't a cabin for his mother so she got to sleep there... well, we could've taken him to the Ares cabin, he was pretty tough and all, but he chose _death-breath_ instead... people always want space of their own."

The girl spat to the ground. "Well, what do ya say?" She suddenly pointed the spear at me - right through the fire, and about 10 people were staring at me right then.

"She's just Polly Princeton," Erin Grinder had all of a sudden turned to my direction - she had all the time sat pretty close to me. "One of the oldest on the camp. They always think they can that way... boss us around."

Erin's boyfriend didn't look at me, but I think his expression turned somehow darker. This Ares girl hadn't luckily heard what Erin had said to me, but even if she would, I wouldn't have feared her. I just got frustrated of people pointing me with things like spears. And even if she mocked my father... well, I wouldn't have my evil revenge on her. I wasn't a Nemesis kid or anything.

I looked again at Polly, the old Ares girl. I noticed she had a pretty complete camp necklace, with already four pearls on it - the one same that Erin's boyfriend had, but the one next to it was new to me - it was gold and pictured Apollo's lyre, and there was then a pretty, black pearl with three stars on it, and one red with a boar carved on it. That must've been Polly's favourite.

Erin had some spare marshmallows on her lap. The bag of them seemed to be on a round around. The only thing about them was that there weren't pretty many - the Demeter kids had eaten most of them. "Want some?" Erin asked me, and I nodded with a smile on my face. I had never known what a daughter of Zeus would be like, but Erin seemed nice. Her boyfriend only... there was something about him.

"Titus?" Erin looked suddenly at the guy next to her in the eyes. So, he had a name! "Don't you want to talk to Eleanor?"

Duh. Probably some dumb Chiron had told my real name to everyone. I hope they wouldn't soon start calling me _Cicada_. They'd be dead in under a minute.

This Titus guy turned to me, and his sea green eyes looked mysteriously deep in the bonfire. I couldn't still remember well what his father's name was - it was so damn long, but he was the god of the sea anyway. I thought Titus would maybe also start chatting with me as Erin did, but he only stared at me for a very long time at first, and then said only a single word:

"Hello."

This Titus was pretty freaky of a person. Or impolite, either way. I had kinda imagined he'd start talking to me just as Erin did – just without this _who the Hades are you?-_expression on his face. Okay, I didn't expect him to talk a lot or anything, but _hello? _I could right from that word notice that he had this sorta British accent and I later heard him talking to Erin quite in the end of the bonfire evening - people started to disappear in their own time, and I thought for a minute that I should just go to bed, but there was so lonely, so I decided to stay with Erin and Titus. I heard that his last name was Silverheart - I didn't know was it just snobby or what, but it kinda made me think; was his heart actually of silver - silver meaning noble, or just very, very cold?

Soon there were only about 6 people sitting by that bonfire. This Demeter boy, Milo Gordon, seemed also pretty nice, but he just kept on munching something all the time and because his mother was Demeter he could make the plants grow out of nowhere - and he kept on growing these strawberries from his feet and just eating them. When Erin tried to reach out for few they vanished from her hands - and Milo kept on eating.

Even Polly Princeton was now gone. She had left with a few of her older friends from the Ares cabin, and after Polly had raised his spear and they had shouted some war cry they just ran into the woods - only their shadows glimmered in the light of the bonfire - it was all the time pretty reddish. Marié told me later how it changed colour, and I sorta envied her. Their fire had been like 13 feet tall and deep blue... but well, at least our bonfire kept us warm.

I left with Erin and Titus from the bonfire when the clock got closer to nine. Marié was still probably there sitting with Gracie and the others - I hadn't really seen was she gone or not. Three Athena kids still stayed there the time we left, and the glow of the warm hearth filled the woods with shadows and reflections of light. I think the Hemera kids had left pretty early from that bonfire; anyway, they had to wake up at five AM to chase Apollo. Titus walked ahead and I could see that he was suddenly carrying a sword - I didn't know where he got it from, but it was there, and in the faint faraway glow of the hearth Marié sat by I could spot that it was two-coloured - it was made mainly of celestial bronze (Marié told me about that too) but it had darker strikes on it, as it would have been burnt, or the metal would have scratched off. I gazed to the stars again - I couldn't spot Virgo this time, but the stars shone anyways bright. I had a feeling Erin also could see the stars, though she didn't look at them with her gaze all up. "Does Zeus... you know... he's a god of the sky and everything... control the stars? Create this illusion of them or something? Because they aren't real or anything."

I heard Erin sorta laugh when she heard my question. "Oh my, Eleanor - even though some gods tell you they aren't real... does that make their existence less probable?"

Gods. Erin had the vocabulary of a professor.

"Oh..." I only managed to say, and then I gazed up again - starting to think about the horoscope stuff. I saw this pretty bright star in the horizon, close to the full moon and everything, and I turned again to Erin. "What's your star sign?"  
"Oh, you saw Jupiter?" She asked me, and I started instantly to think about the star which didn't twinkle, but shone anyway. "That's Zeus. I'm born under his sign. Sagittarius."

"Isn't Sagittarius the dude with the bow and arch?" I asked Erin, and Titus started swinging his sword from side to side in front of us, in this almost complete darkness. I wouldn't dare to do that – some dumb Hemera kid would anyway jump into my way and I'd cut him to slices. Erin nodded after my question and laughed again, she had a pretty nice laugh. "A centaur. Like Chiron."

Wow. Chiron had his own freakin' _constellation. _Erin told me shortly (or in her words, _briefly_) about how the constellation of Sagittarius was pretty hard to find, because it didn't have bright stars, and then about some black hole in it, but after that things got hazy again. We found our way to the cabins, and by them I couldn't see the sword in Titus' hands any more, and I started to wonder for a minute, of was that me dreaming again. I glanced quickly at the direction of my cabin – it was empty again, and so cold. So before I entered it I decided to have a quick look into Erin's cabin, as she gave me permission and everything. As Titus went sleeping alone to cabin number three, I led myself into the biggest mess ever.

Well… it was dark then. Erin started to tell me this story of how she and Titus found their way to the camp, and Titus' story sounded pretty interesting, except Titus had in Erin's words _failed so miserably _that about 30 monsters were after him as he got to know he was a half-blood and for some damn reason summoned a cursed _hurricane. _Well, thank gods he had one of the satyrs with him, so after summoning the Grey siblings they had raced to the camp border, but there a couple of freaks were waiting for him – and Erin, leaving the camp borders for the first time after she came, fought them with Chiron and a couple of powerful half-bloods, saving Titus. From that day they had been together, but I still couldn't see a _connection _between Erin and Titus – they held hands and everything, but didn't smile when they did that… or then it was only Titus. He never smiled. Maybe their connection was somewhere in the stage of mind, unreachable and untouchable for others. Erin told me all kinds of stuff on the way, she spoke pretty damn fast even though she had such a great vocabulary, and when we then entered the Zeus cabin… well, it's pretty hard to explain.

Erin opened the door and we stepped into this freakin' miniature temple with blazing thunder going on in the ceiling. All was made of marble. And as Erin started with her great welcomes I gazed at the moving clouds and lightning that looked so real that it freaked me out, Erin gasped and stepped back so that she ran into some antique cabinet and the knife slipped from her ankle – it wasn't even celestial bronze, only silver, and it clashed on the marble floor with an awful jingle.

She couldn't even say anything that moment. She didn't even have time to pick up her knife. She only pointed at somewhere over my forehead and I almost covered my eyes with my hands – _this can't be happening._

"This… this can't be happening," Erin repeated as if she would've read my thoughts, and everything she said was against what had happened. There was this spinning, electric blue lightning bolt over my head.

"Has father gone crazy?" Erin closed her eyes and shook her head. "I saw you being claimed before!"  
"I was claimed…" I was so amused, that I couldn't say anything else. "Maybe… if no-one else saw it, nothing bad will happen?"  
"I bet Dionysus has done something to his water… or it was you, Ganymede! Let you be cursed!"

Erin raised and shook her fist to the thundering ceiling, which didn't for some reason even seem strange to me at that moment. For a second I kinda thought Zeus actually was _drunk, _but then this crazy commercial voice of a guy filled the room: SMILE, YOU'RE ON CAMPED CAMERA!

"It's Hephaestus… one of his cameras again… they've ruined this camp."

But more I couldn't hear of Erin that evening. I just stared at the heavens unbelievingly, smiled this sorta turned-down smile. I was screwed.


	7. SERIOUSLY ODD PARENTS

**PART 3: CONNECTION**

SERIOUSLY ODD PARENTS**  
**

4. You can't read.

Or then you just don't get the text. But that's only one of the things that suck in being a half-blood – reading only ancient Greek, and any good books weren't published in that damn language. Maybe a few people actually then liked the next thing in demigodness: you have a godly parent.

Well, I would've liked that too. But I just don't, because I have _two._

* * *

Okay. To explain shortly what I did after Erin's father went ga-ga: go crazy.

My memory was hazy again from that night. I remember leaving the Zeus cabin with only one thing in my mind: about the whole camp would know the thing – or then the whole Olympus.

"Gracie?" I remember yelling as I started banging the Hephaestus cabin door pretty damn loud. The lights of the skull-lanterns on the Hades cabin seemed to glow somehow more faint, and the Zeus cabin then more clear, as if for purpose. Like Zeus was trying to claim me by force. Gracie would think that in a situation like this an epic giant hand would come and grab me or something as stupid. The door was opened by a girl in her pyjamas or something, or then she was a woman, either way, she looked just too old. She had sorta reddish hair and a toothbrush in her other hand, and she gazed me in a pretty tired way.

"You're the Hades girl!" She mumbled from between washing her teeth. "I'm Laura Oasis. You'll probably see me working here next year as a camp counselor, I'm getting a job from here. You're here probably to see Gracie, aren't you?"

I didn't even answer this Laura, just pushed her aside and ran inside, looking astonished as I had a view around. The cabin looked so much larger from the inside, there was a fireplace and it was all full of crazy gadgets - Gracie sat in the corner doing something with her golden necklace.

"Elea!" She sounded pretty puzzling as she turned to face me. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Tell you what?" I must've sounded so damn exhausted.

"That Zeus is your father! That's so cool!"

I covered my eyes with my palm. Thank gods Gracie was good in keeping secrets, but if she knew the others of the cabin must've known too - and if Gracie made such a sound everyone must've heard it.

"Gracie, shut up," I gnashed my teeth. "This is not cool. I've got two potential fathers. They both can't be the real ones. Zeus is drunk."

I heard awful grumbling outside, like a thunderstorm would have started.

"I believe you!" I raised my eyebrows facing the tiny window, but turned then to look at Gracie. "Zeus cannot be my father," I tried to speak as quiet as possible, so that Zeus wouldn't blow the whole cabin up. "He and I... we don't even look similar! And I haven't ever shown abilities like Erin. I can't even recognise freakin' Jupiter."

"But that's still so cool!"

I sighed. So, Gracie was a normal 13-year old then. But as I said - I was pretty damn scared. I didn't even know why, but I knew that Zeus and Hades competing with each other wouldn't be good. I had seen it already in Hercules. I almost wished I was dead, but the problem was... I didn't know how it was possible for a child of Hades to die. Thinking of it made my head spin – as if it would've made me immortal. Judged me into eternal doom.

"Another of them has made a mistake!" I tried to convince Gracie. She opened her night closet and put all her jewellery in it. She had all kinds of freaky gadgets on her - they looked like golden bracelets to the ankle and wrist, but I believed they could morph into something. I had seen Gracie use her necklace as nunchuks. It was pretty damn freaky. "Do you have the... video? The CAMPED CAMERA-thing. It's crap."

"I didn't even invent that thing!" Gracie was shouting, curse that, everyone could hear us. "It was Zacharias Stonehenge, about a six years ago. He's there in the corner." She pointed at a guy wearing a freakin' _helmet._ "And well, about the video... uhh..."

Suddenly Zacharias from the corner turned around, took the helmet off, revealing a rough face like Gracie's, and his right eye was curiously dim, as if he was half blind. "It's the Zades girl!"

"...Zades?"

"Well, you know!" Zacharias sounded as excited as if I was Zeus himself. "You're gonna be a cee-lee-brii-tyy! I just had to send that vii-dee-oo..."

"Please stop talking that way," I commented, but the guy just looked at me with the same light in his eyes and continued his nonsense.

"I sent it to Olympus and to Chiron - he knows and all, and the satyrs, oh, you're so gonna be..."

I exchanged anxious glances with Gracie and wanted her to help me out of this trouble, but she just shook her elbows - I wanted to say something snappy to that damn freak Zacharias, something like _go to_ - and then replace the dirty bits with something like Hades, but _go to Hades_ would sound pretty inappropriate.

"You're the talk of year two thousand and fiif-teen!"  
"Go to Tartarus!" Gracie snapped – she probably had a telepathic connection with me or something. The boy stopped what he was talking of, and I kinda got a chance to run away, but about the whole of the Hephaestus cabin stared at me on the way – and Zacharias kept on shouting after me, as if the insult wouldn't even have been serious. Well, I didn't exactly remember what Tartarus was, but the way Gracie said it made it sound almost as evil as _hell._

"Chiron knows!"

Curses. I didn't even know what the damn was I doing, but I was about to run to the main building – to strangle Chiron or something, to prevent him from spreading the word. Hades lived so isolated from the Olympians that he probably would never hear about it, if Chiron would be… dead and the Zacharias idiot would get rid of his damn video.

"Elea!"

No way. I was just about there were the Hades cabin was, I could see the hill with the main building and everything, and suddenly Marié appeared behind me and almost knocked me down. She had a problem or something.

"You have no idea how fast the word spreads!" She spoke so fast, that her words were like a glued-together mush. "It's been only like 20 minutes!"  
"I know," I felt like hitting Marié in the face. But I just couldn't – she looked so small and innocent, even though she wore some red high heels borrowed from Stella of the Aphrodite cabin. "Please tell me no-one else knows."

Marie shut her trap up, so I believe that meant opposite what I wished. It hurt pretty much. Maybe Marié and Gracie thought of fear in this situation was ridiculous, but I had my own opinion. And for now, it felt pretty much like the only one right. "So… it's between Hades and Zeus then…"  
I nodded my head. Options like Hades and some minor god like that damn Hemera would've been easier to take, because it'd be easy for that minor god to admit the mistake, but for Zeus… he'd never lose his pride. Even I've never seen him IRL, he still seemed like a pretty determined fellow. I knew it already from the fact how he made the skies rumble when someone tried to oppose him, and of his determined gaze in only the coins. Still I couldn't count out the chance that Zeus actually _was _my father – things were so crazy already then, that I wouldn't be surprised.

"How this is possible?" Marié sighed, and I noticed that moment how tired she looked – and the clock was almost midnight, anyway. "Could it be possible that your mother met two gods in a short period of time? Did she have many affairs?"  
"…Marié, that's kinda like a personal question."  
"Or was she a stripper or something?"

Ehh. I thought Hermes kids might have some tendency to say things without thinking first, but I wouldn't have believed of Marié. "She worked at the supermarket, shortie."

I hid my irritation quite well. I tough was still gnashing my teeth, and when doing that I just noticed I had gotten rid of my dependence on lipbalm – I had lost it on the way to the camp. I thought Marié had already left the topic alone, but she just kept on going. "What did your mother do? In the supermarket."

I yawned. Marié sure could be irritating. "She worked at the furniture department. Found my father from one of the test beds. I don't remember the rest."

This weird crooked smile appeared on Marié's face, and I think she sorta blushed. "Okay. Tell me no more. I… understand now."

I let Marié follow me to the main building - mainly, because I didn't trust her in that way that I'd leave her alone on a moment like this - she'd gossip this thing to almost everyone on the camp, to this Stella of Aphrodite first - and you know how daring it is to tell any rumour to an _Aphrodite_ girl. But I kinda had this feeling everyone already knew, so my job now was only to have my revenge on Chiron who just appeared to maybe phone my father, no matter was he Zeus or Hades - but soon enough, they both would know. I was already on a pretty good mood, on a mood to kill - I kinda had the same mood when I was beginning to plan for a hockey game I really wanted to shine in. Marié tough told me the most stupid thing ever on the entrance to the Main Building - I couldn't kill Chiron, because his father was a Titan and the Titans are immortal. I never had really thought about the titans. I just remembered that in the Disney film they were pretty evil and huge - I wouldn't really want to run into any of them. So my evil revenge couldn't be happening, but I could still prevent Chiron from phoning... if the information ran slow.

When I came to the main building, I was attacked by probably each and every satyr on the camp. I could remember the names of only three, but these two unknown to me seemed pretty basic satyr-like, with their Hawaii-shirts - all had one of a different colour, and their curly hair and hairy arses. I, from that moment on knew what had happened - the information had ran here also, pretty fast and everything. Maybe it came to the satyrs right at first, because this Zacharias had wanted them to know - and they'd pretty surely tell everything to everyone. Like play in the morning instead of the _wakeup song_ the song of Elea, the child of Zades. It sounded so damn dumb.

"Chiron!" I yelled, trying to get the hands of the satyrs off me. "Marié, get these things off me!"

Marié nodded and took as fast as lightning something out from the pocket of her grey up-to-knee skirt - a golden flute. "Listen to this, goaties!"

Then she played a mysterious tune. Marié could sure play the flute well - she seemed like all a different person after she took hold of it. For a second all of the satyrs seemed like they were in a trance or something - they looked at Marié with greedy eyes and seemed to sway in the rhythm, but after the short tune the flute wasn't a flute any more - it had turned into a golden caduceus with spiky edges - a weapon looking pretty dangerous.

"Well, want to hear more?" She smiled in a somehow peppery way. "Only one note wrong and I'll call the snakes to bite the fur off your asses. Leave Elea alone, and tell me where that old donkey, Chiron is."

"He's not here!" A satyr whose name I couldn't know tweeted with his high-pitched voice. "He has left to take care of his duty!"

"We are here to take care of his duty on the camp until he returns tomorrow!" The satyr whom I knew as Cedric continued. "And our duty is to keep you out from here after the clock strikes midnight. You have still time, but unless you want to join our card game, you better get the Hades out of here."

Cedric raised his eyebrows on the word _Hades_, and the thing going in my mind was _I knew it!_ I had guessed from the start that Cedric wasn't a very nice type.

Marié blew the hair off her face and put her hand on my shoulder. I found it pretty funny, because she was so much shorter and I felt like I should be the one comforting her - not this way. "Chiron will fix things all right. You better sleep, Elea. I'm gonna sleep too. Sleeping is always good for you."

Totally is, I thought. Until know sleeping had only made me feel worse - all the weird happenings were only true because of my dreams. Just like my Potential Father #1 claiming me and the first pass-out of my life. I'd totally sleep alright.

But that night my dreams weren't nightmares. I didn't even know were they demigod dreams or what. I just remember wishing after I went to bed for someone to sort this all out, something to help me with this thing. And just maybe this wish would come true.

The way it though did... it wasn't exactly what I thought about.

I woke up a little late - maybe, because I was the only one in the Hades cabin and there weren't 14 kids there to act ADHD right in the morning or carve their initials into my forehead or something. I went to breakfast that morning and everything, but thank gods Chiron was back and turned away all the attention from me. I guessed he had worked out something with the gods or then created some sort of distraction so that I could be alone with this case. I ate poorly then - only some cereal and a loaf of dry bread - like the food was dying in my hands, and then Chiron appeared on the stage to tell everyone what he was going to do. Maybe it was really something awesome. Or Zeus had given up and I was the child of Hades after all - but what Chiron said was pretty different of what I actually wanted.

"Just to say, I have chosen that this year's chariot races will be held a little early!" Chiron sounded like some damn announcer. "I hope all of your chariots are safe at the stables, because today is the time for them to shine again! The one team victorious will be freed from all duties until the beginning of next month and the other prize will of course be glory. To join, come to the racetrack today at three - the races shall begin an hour after. There are no other announcements!"

Whew. At least Chiron wasn't spreading the rumour of my potential fathers everywhere. The only thing wrong about this was that I had no idea what had happened with them. How could these chariot races just be held on a moment like this? Okay, I had to admit that the prize was pretty nice - I had always been easily tempted by _glory_. But who would I race with? I had no faintest idea of what was a cursed chariot.

Okay, the good thing was that pretty much two of my questions were answered right after breakfast. Number one: Marié just attacked me like she was going to eat me or something and almost screamed out loud how she wanted to ride a chariot with me. Okay, I had a team, but the technical part was still pretty much a mystery to me. Number two: Just before Marié was going to tell me how awesome of a damn chariot rider she was, Chiron turned to me and dragged me aside - and told _Miss Elton_ to wait for a second.

"So, I heard you had plans for me last night?"

I blushed. I knew those satyrs would tell Chiron right away - like they'd get paid better from preventing their master from attempted murder. "Yes. I'm sorry."

"No need to pardon. I have met demigods in such situations before and they are never easy... but a situation like yours - it is extraordinary. Zeus and Hades already both know about the case with you, but nothing more I can say right now - I am not that welcome on Olympus to hear every message between the Underworld and the skies. For help, you should turn towards the protector of Messengers: maybe your friend Marié knows something about it. Do you know why I decided to keep these races? Any wild guesses?"

"To distract the other campers?"

Chiron was silent for a second. "Well, it is a good guess. But it is not the main reason. I, Elea, think that these races might be an opportunity for you to show how you really can roll. I believe the gods will have an eye on this race, and maybe your performance in this event may determine who really is your father, Zeus or Hades. But if this does not help... I cannot say, what must be done. We must pray and wish for the best."

"I guess so," I only could say. "I will enter with Marié."

"Good choice. In that position... well, I shall let your friend tell you the rest. Good luck, and let us hope that this will be the solution to all."

I nodded my head and turned around, facing now Marié, who stood at the trees right outside the pavilion. I couldn't read the expression on her face, but as soon as I got to her I had one question in mind.

"What in the Tartarus is a _chariot?"_


	8. I GET A RIDE ON THE CARRIAGE TO HELL

**PART 3: CONNECTION**

I GET A RIDE ON THE CARRIAGE TO HELL

The thing was, that I really wasn't ready for a happening like the chariot races.

I would've been if they could've served yogurt and some tasty snacks that would've made me feel better. Or I'd get a gentle ride on the kind of carriage I've seen in for example Cinderella - that pumpkin pulled off by a couple of horses. But instead I am given a celestial bronze dagger, a crappy shield that weighed about a million tonnes and the opportunity to stand for the whole race. And probably get killed in the meantime.

I must say it sounded just as fierce as it was.

People from almost all cabins showed up to the racetrack when I and Marié got there, but there were sure less people than I thought there would be. There were only two of the Nemesis kids - and Marié had already of course told me what chariot racing is all about - its two people standing in this cardboard box open from the back and the other one has to ride standing all the time as the other fights for their own life. And unfortunately I got the crappier part.

I couldn't brag with my balance or anything, but the time we first got into the chariot I thought I'd definitely be a better rider than a soldier. But Marié wasn't the only chariot rider from the Hermes cabin for nothing - she was the best of them all. She wasn't a good fighter or anything, but due her small size and capability to stand without falling she could keep up on her feet the whole race time. Looking at the determined expression on Marié's face as she took hold of the reins and the way she had thunder in her eyes made me even think for a second that we were the best team ever. But then the Nemesis kids pulled up their evil chariot - it was symmetrical as their cabin, painted fully dark purple and it had these crazy spikes everywhere. The wheels were also all spiky and for a second I thought that was it even possible to ride with them. They didn't have much weapons with them, but the twin siblings taking hold of the cart looked already evil enough to scare the damn out of anyone. Their names already screamed the word REVENGE, as their last name was Reva. The one about five seconds older than the other was named Phoebe and the younger Melanie, but they looked just too similar for me to recognise who was who. The Ares cabin was there too, but Polly Princeton didn't ride the chariot. She tried, tough, but victory wasn't that important to her and she had hurt her knees badly on their last night's runaway in the dark woods - I just knew the minute they started it that it'd lead to no good. There were the golden Apollo chariot, the Hecate kids (I was kinda scared of what'd they turn me into if I'd only _accidentally_ poke one of them in their pretty purple eye with my knife), people from the Hephaestus cabin (thank gods no Zacharias there), some Athena kids too - and of course Titus and Erin, whom had a pretty cool chariot - it was painted all turquoise, and the symbol in the front was the one I had seen in the pearl on Titus' camp necklace - a lightning bolt and trident crossing. I saw also some kids I had never seen, like these Thalassa siblings. There were only two of them in the camp, and their names were Dion and Eladio Donald. Eladio, the younger one, was a boy about 14 with this emo-fringe all covering his eyes, and as he fought in the back of the chariot I was pretty scared of what he'd do as he was half-blind that way. Her little sister Dion was... could I say _beautiful._ She had silky black hair she tied with a striped bandana and she wore clothes that made her look like she was cold all the time. But if I could remember right, their mother Thalassa was a goddess of life in the sea, and I couldn't really think of anything they could throw me at. Like some living fish or something? I'd struck them down dead without even touching them.

But the Thalassa siblings weren't the ones I paid most attention on. I was currently pretty interested of how the Nike cabin would do. Berenice wasn't there herself, but the twin boys from the cabin with the last name Skie seemed to do the chariot racing. I though could see a little feminine touch in the chariot, so maybe Berenice had her part in building it. All the chariots looked so pretty and then I turned my gaze to the one of the Hermes cabin. Well... it wasn't ugly or anything, but it looked pretty plain. It was only made of wood, so I was scared of would it hold against those chariots made of full gold like the Apollo cabins or the spikes in the Nemesis chariot. That hour while we were waiting for the races to begin, Chiron kept on telling the rules over again and again, maybe because he knew I was new in the races, and I began to get them somehow. The knife in my hand tough... it was like my third day on the cabin or so, and I didn't really have experience of any weapon. The only thing I ever had experience of was a hockey stick. But there was no one of them there to be seen...

So I just hoped we'd get through the track without me having to use the nasty knife at all. Well, Marié hid a few bags of Greek fire to our chariot and some other surprises, but she didn't bother telling me at all what they did to enemies. So... if my knife would get shattered or something, I could then just throw some random bag to the competing chariot and only hope that the stuff inside would be good. Not like we were throwing candy to our enemies. Like a present already beforehand.

"Well, it's about time!" Marié whispered as people started to gather on the stadium. I got pretty freaked out then, and my senses started to sharpen, as if I had drunk another can of Coke. Gods I missed that drink. I could suddenly hear all the birds sing around me - it was indeed odd, because they did sing - maybe I was too busy thinking of other things than killing birds. I could also hear the wind and see as the clouds drifted across the skies in such high speeds, forming shapes like cyclones. In that kinds of moments I felt also my vocabulary getting sorta better. I could think sharper and my mind was more clear - too bad that feeling never occurred in school.

And just too soon the stands were full of people screaming and shouting the names of their favourites, and I was standing in a chariot too low for me (it was built for people the size of Marié) holding a bronze knife in my sweaty hands and stressing so damn much.

Chiron started to repeat the rules again. Oh gods, there was no going back now. I must've been shaking pretty damn much. I cast a quick and hasty glance at Marié - I wasn't really sure about this thing... but she didn't even look at me - she only held the reins her gaze full of determination, as if she was in a trance. I gulped and took one last look at the stadium - Gracie must've sat somewhere there - I didn't even know did she cheer on us or the Hephaestus team. And then I felt this awful jerk that almost made me collapse down, as the chariots started to roll.

Ohmigosh. That was horrible. It made me sick. I had nothing to take hold on, I just stood there praying for Marié to guide her chariot to the finish line. But the cursed thing seemed so far away - we had just passed it like a five seconds ago.

Nothing happened to us at first. But nevertheless, everything freaked me out then. Like the way the Thalassa chariot crashed into a tree about 10 seconds after we had started - and how the Nemesis cabin approached from the distance to catch the Apollo chariot which seemed to be first at the moment. The Athena kids lost also pretty soon, as Marié started to scream how they got too close to us and told me to do something - so I picked up one of the surprise bags and threw it. I didn't know what was in there, but the kids seemed to faint the moment it hit their chariot and that was the end of their race. The Nike cabin was the last, we were third, but they seemed to ride flawlessly - they'd probably win the whole competition if they could keep up _that_ in situations like the Nemesis cabin attacking them. It was so odd as people just left mine and Marié's chariot alone - the Apollo one was beaten by the Nemesis kids who now rode first, and soon enough the Hephaestus chariot rode past us - and as I sighed relieved as we had just been left safe from all trouble, I totally forgot Titus and Erin took part too. It was almost too late to notice it as they were already right behind us - Titus holding his evil sword in between his eyes - it must've been the longest sword ever. I must admit I had never even seen anyone use a sword, but when someone did it was pretty damn scary. Especially when it was Titus - he was so expressionless and serious, as if he would have no emotions at all. No mercy, no will to hear how the other begs for their saviour.

"Elea?" Marié shouted through all that racket. The Hephaestus chariot right in front of us made an awful clonking noise. Or it was the mechanical horses they used. We had only regular ponies... "What's happening back there?"

"It's... its Titus and Erin!"

"What?"

I didn't know did Marié say that because of fear or because she didn't hear what I told her, but either way, I feared 100%. They were only about a 30 feet away and approached all the time, with Erin riding the whole thing her eyes all wrinkled up, so that she looked pretty evil. I think Marié tried to make the horses go faster, but Erin and Titus just kept on approaching, until they were right next to us, Erin smiling at our way, but Titus still as quiet as always.

"Farewell!" Erin laughed as she kept on riding - she was either a maniac or then this actually was fun to her. It was as if Titus was speaking through him - he himself said nothing, only stared at me, and then he raised his sword. I didn't know what happened next, but it was pretty strange anyway. Maybe Titus didn't believe I had any weapons or such, or then that I couldn't fight with them, and that was his weak spot. As he slowly seemed to take aim on me, I struck him with the hilt of my dagger - I didn't want to wound him or anything. It must've been a good hit, because Titus' eyes widened and he collapsed down so that he fell from the chariot. I for a second already thought I had killed him, and wished to cover my eyes as I saw the Nike chariot approaching the body of Titus laying on the track, but I just couldn't, and I was pretty surprised (and maybe relieved, too) as I saw the Skie twins turning their chariot to the right a little, so that they wouldn't ride over Titus. I think I heard Erin pull over for him to help the one important to her - well, maybe I would've done that too if I was her. Marié, happy of that I had taken care of the ones coming behind us, got maybe some motivation or something, and now I could see there were only five chariots left in the race. Marié rode past the Hephaestus cabin easily - why that happened was a mystery for me too - the mechanical horses started to act weird - as if they wanted to oppose riding anymore and in the end the horses tripped over their own legs. The Hecate cabin which had moved for the whole race pretty silently must've done this - they tried to beat everyone by chanting. I tried to throw a bag of Greek fire to their chariot, but I missed, and the bag of it exploded in the middle of the road leaving behind a blazing, green puff of smoke. For some reason tough... the Hecate kids all jumped off their chariot. They must've freaked so damn badly as they saw the daughter of Death throwing some gifts at them.

It was now a race between the Hermes chariot with me in it, the Nemesis cabin and the Nike cabin.

Something really freaky happened about the time we could already see the finish line.

The Nemesis chariot seemed to oddly slow down, and Marié, unable to control her speed, crashed into them - so that the Nike cabin rode past us crossing the finish line and the two chariots were left to the tracks smoking and in pieces. The _in pieces_ probably fit better mine and Marié's chariot. I flew off the back as Marié hit the stone-hard chariot of the Nemesis cabin and probably due my good stamina survived - even though my bronze dagger cut me into my own finger during the flight. Goodness, Marié had these healing strengths and everything - she didn't suffer for long and after she could climb out of her chariot she came to me and healed my wound only with a touch. It felt pretty freaky - the bleeding just stopped instantly and the skin grew back on it. It was also kinda gross.

"We… we made it," Marié panted as she started slowly to recover. "You okay, Elea?"

I felt also pretty exhausted. I just knew that minute that I had just been in the danger of my lifetime, but nevertheless I raised my thumb and smiled – and from that minute knew that chariot racing was pretty much of one of the coolest things in the whole universe.

We came third. Maybe, if we wouldn't have crashed in the Nemesis cabin so early they would've crashed into us and we'd be second, but third place was still satisfying enough. The Nemesis kids almost started crying as they saw the Nike children win – they _always _won if they entered the races.

"So, it's a victory for the Nike cabin! And thus ending the row of eleven victories scored by the Nemesis cabin."

As Chiron announced the winners and covered the curly heads of the Skie twins with laurel wreaths and Berenice entered the trophy stool to hug her friends, I and Marié sorta hugged too – we were just a little too relieved that we had survived. We didn't get any price that would let us leave housework undone, but glory it was – many people shouted hoorays for Marié and me. I felt pretty satisfied, though Marié got most of the applauses – it felt pretty good even though we were only third. Gracie congratulated us both and told us she was very happy neither of us got hurt or anything, but that happiness didn't last for a long. I was just about to go and congratulate Erin too from her good success – she would've beaten us if Titus wouldn't have fallen off the chariot, but then something happened. Suddenly all voices seemed to fade, and the gazes of everyone turned to the woods, from where a slim, dark figure was approaching from. It was as if this something was part of the shadows – moving beneath them. As soon as Chiron recognised the newcomer he told everyone to stay where they were. I, for a second, feared it was some monster what had gotten past the camp borders, like one of those perverts, but the one coming was only a boy, maybe a year older than me – a boy who could swim in the shadows.

"Ivan!" Chiron raced to the incoming boy. "You look… terrible. What has happened? Where is Viquel?"

"Viquel Chesapeake?" The boy spoke. He had a mysterious voice – it was very strong but easily forgettable. "She… she is…"

Chiron turned pale. "Do not say what we fear."

The boy recognised as Ivan shook his head. But he raised the gaze of his almost black eyes – they weren't dark brown, but midnight blue. His lips were trembling as if he were to cry, but he just stood there, showing no emotion – but the way he met the gaze in Chiron's for ever-seen eyes told the centaur enough.

"The Iris cabin," Chiron began, and four children came forward from the crowd to Chiron. "Your family has decreased its number. Viquel Chesapeake… has left our time and moved on to the endless fields behind the land of the dead."

It was complete silence. I did not know neither who was this boy or who was Viquel Chesapeake, the one Chiron claimed to be… dead. And suddenly I felt a terrible wave of cold crushing on me as the faces of one hundred campers turned to my direction – as if I were to tell them did Viquel, the daughter of Iris, chase her carriage to Heaven or Hell.

The rest of the day turned out to be miserable. I was pretty much _stalked_ after we got to know Viquel Chesapeake, this girl from the Iris cabin was dead. It was sad time for everyone, mostly the people of the Iris cabin, but one with even more sorrow was introduced to me later that day. As everyone got to use the Iris connection for free for that one day, I entered the line too, but in the meantime Philius and his friend-satyr from the cabin came to me, looking pretty exhausted.

"Well, what's wrong?" I asked them - I just couldn't stand their miserable expressions. Philius answered me right that minute, and he didn't even wear a green Hawaii shirt then - it was black, maybe to take part in the sorrow.

"It's Greta, from the Dionysus cabin," Philius began. "Did you know that we satyrs lived there too?"

"I did," I answered. "But who is Greta?"

"She was the greatest friend of Viquel Chesapeake. She's well... let's say this your way – a _damn miserable person_ now that her best friend is dead. If you could hear one heart-breaking yell from the crowd the time Ivan told the news - it was her."

I gulped. I had heard it, yes, but I had no idea why Philius was asking my help. Then I suddenly understood.

"I may be the daughter of Hades," I began, and knew already then from Philius' expression that I just had to come with him, though my parent would be someone like Apollo instead of the Lord of the Dead. "But that doesn't make me almighty. I can't see a thing - so if you wish to know where she is now - I cannot help you."

"Anyway, talk to Greta. Help her get over it. I believe that speaking to a person with such a good knowledge of Viquel, it might be easier to get contact with the realm of the dead. If it doesn't work... you will need a weapon to channel your powers. Ever heard of Stygian iron? It is told that Ivan himself uses one - and for that we do fear but admire him so."

But anymore I couldn't say to Philius, or even ask him more about this Ivan. He and his friend were already dragging me to the Dionysus cabin, and I bet there went my possibility to use the connection for free - like it had gone down the drain.

I had seen Greta before. I had actually never thought of her, but I still recognised her - she always sat in the Dionysus table with a younger boy and the satyrs. She wore this I ME-tee, which kinda depressed me - it must've been hard to love yourself on a moment like that.

She was bawling pretty damn much as I entered the cabin. It made me feel uncomfortable. "You have to do something!" Philius whispered still once, but then he and his friend left the cabin - probably to fill in my lost place in the line to the Iris cabin.

"It's you!" Greta's voice was trembling as she raised her view. Her eyes were all red from the tears and her face had this same colour of tint on it too - she was a little plump and had curly dark hair, which made her look pretty pathetic - I didn't know what was the feeling that took over me then. Could it have been empathy?

I sat right next to her, on her messy bed. It was just as messy as her hair. "Hello, Greta."

Gods. I sounded just like Titus.

"Is she all right?" Greta looked me straight in the eyes - though her gaze was all watery, she had pretty nice eyes. "V-Vi... Oh, Zeus! I can't even say her name anymore!"

I had never heard anyone use _Zeus_ as a curse. I bet the guy in the skies didn't really like that. But though Greta looked so sad and I would've done anything to help her out of her endless sorrow, my inner eye which should have opened a way to the beyond was still blind, behind my closed lids I saw only blackness, nothing more.

"I... I cannot say."

That must've depressed Greta even more. She lowered her head and her eyes stopped over to her tee- and screaming she took it off and threw it to the corner. "That was a present from her!"

"Don't violate her memory, Greta," I tried to calm her. I had never been good in calming down people, or comforting them or anything. I never had to do that to sad people - I kinda felt I was more sad than the people around me. Sorta silently sad. My insides felt pretty empty but my heart didn't bleed or anything - there was just kinda this feeling that something was missing from there.

"Look into my eyes, Greta."

She dried her tears and raised her gaze. Her eyes were still though all red. But this had worked earlier too - like when I looked into my mother's eyes and saw the freezing earth and the paths in Marié's glance... but Greta was a total mystery. I must've stared at her for five minutes like a madman, but it was so very hard - she started bawling like every half minutes. Maybe her mind was too full of memories of Viquel. Did I look somehow similar to her or what?

And then I got it.

"Greta," I spoke very slowly, which wasn't very much like me, but maybe I did it naturally because I wanted to calm Greta down. "Do you have a picture of her? Maybe seeing her would make my sight easier."

Greta started crying again. "No!" She gulped from between her tears. "I don't have one, not even a single photo! I tore them all apart, I couldn't look at them anymore..."

"Oh," I began. I must've sounded pretty cold. "So." I just hoped nothing in me would show Greta the words I left unsaid, like how rude it was to wipe away everything that reminded of one loved after they passed away. But Greta didn't end yet - she just kept on wiping her tears to her blanket and rubbed her eyes. She'd be blind if she kept on doing that. And how old was she? She looked so old and young in the same time. "I do not own a picture of her, but I know one who does. Talk to Ivan. He _loved_ her."

Greta sounded pretty different as she said Ivan's name. Like it would've been poison. And the last words... what did they mean?

"Go find him. And tell me, when you know..."

And somehow the way Greta's voice just died into the silence leaving us two there in complete emptiness, I knew that moment that I had to leave the whole place. So I took my stuff and stood up, not looking back - leaving to find out everything of this Ivan boy – not still knowing, that my journey to the next stop would be impossible without him.


	9. I MEET THE LEAN MEAN PROPHECY MACHINE

**PART 3: CONNECTION**

I MEET THE LEAN-MEAN-PROPHECY-MACHINE

The first thing I had thought about Ivan as I saw him was that he was a pretty cool guy and everything – I didn't know pretty many people who could go chameleon as well as he did. But the second time I met him I just thought him as the biggest bastard of all time.

"Get away from my stuff!"

A pretty silly way to say _hello _to someone. But I just couldn't help it, because for some damn stupid reason this Ivan had found his way to the Hades cabin though he didn't even have the cursed _keys_ – and he claimed to live there. He was sitting on my bed like he King of the World and I think that was _my _bag of drachmas he was holding. It made an awful clonking and everything. I could now see that in that light he looked pretty much different – it was darker or something and I think it suited him. I could now notice all the good features in him – he looked somehow _royal _I couldn't really describe it. But that was the way I had imagined the gods to look like, people like Zeus and everyone. He had probably the most beautiful eyes I had ever seen on a guy. But even though he looked good I didn't feel like I should start flirting with him or something. He didn't look like model-goodor _Edward Cullen-_good, but there was something about him. But even though he would've looked like the man of my dreams, I wouldn't have said nothing else than "get the Hades out of my bed."  
"Don't repeat the name of your father constantly, Elea Collins."

Okay. That sorta made me more frustrated than ever. I glared at this Ivan like he was my arch-enemy or something, hoping that my gaze would somehow make him move, like I was using the power of my mind, but he just stayed there.

"You've got pretty much money. Chiron gave this to you?"

"I won't tell you even though you'd threaten to blow this damn cabin up. Get the _Hades_ off my bed, or suffer."

Well, Ivan didn't move off there, but he stopped laying there and sat down. That looked though a little more polite, thank gods. "I am sorry," this Ivan continued - "But this is my bed."

Suddenly I shuddered. Looking at into those endless, dark eyes and all the royal features made Ivan look somehow powerful, like he'd have the power to blow me into bits if I'd continue repeating the word Hades. He looked at me (oh, he didn't raise his eyebrows after all) and my gaze met his gaze, and I that minute thought about the coin with Zeus on it. Ivan looked like a son of Zeus even more than Erin even did look like a daughter of him, but what was he then doing in the damn Hades cabin? He must've been as crazy as Zeus himself was.

"I believe Chiron didn't guess I would return so soon. But if you wish to have a bed of your own, borrow one from the Hermes cabin - this has been mine for almost four years."

That kinda amused me. But this guy could be a fake and everything - a fake with the face of Zeus. He looked sorta like Titus too as I gazed at him more carefully, but he smiled and everything.

"Okay. Who are you?"

I didn't want to act like Titus, and I right away regret my behaviour before that - because this Ivan answered me instantly after I turned on my polite side. "Me? I am Ivan Shore. The son of Nyx."

I apologised pretty damn much to Ivan as I had no idea who was this cursed Nyx - I made about a million guesses, and after about exactly a million I finally got that she was a goddess, not a god. So, Ivan wasn't the son of Zeus then. But as it got darker he seemed to get even more beautiful, and I started asking about his mother. And again I got to hear one of these everlasting life-stories; and this told about 12-year old Ivan, who had been in some random party in Florida, and after he runaway from it with a terrible headache (I dunno what kind of drinks they were taking there) and he ran into a couple of Cyclops. They held his stepmother Michaela as a hostage and his father, holding a barbecue party that night had no idea of the whole thing. Thank gods this Ivan then told the whole story about the one-eyed freaks to his father and as he himself had experience of throwing darts it didn't take long as he blinded the two monsters. I bet being blinded by a dart in the eye wasn't the best way to get your sight lost - it must've been pretty damn embarrassing. Ivan had arrived to the camp in the age of 13 as most demigods, and a year after he had left on a quest given by his mother with Viquel Chesapeake. It had all gone well and everything, but it got too challenging to them in the end, and Viquel died in fighting the two Cyclops who wanted to have revenge on Ivan. It made me admire the girl, and I hadn't even remembered my original way of meeting Ivan until that. I needed a photograph of Viquel.

"So, do you own one?"

Ivan stared into the distance for a couple of seconds. "I do. Let me guess - Chiron needs one to her tribute?"

Ivan spoke in this awfully polite way, so polite that it sounded even a little rude. Like he didn't even honour Viquel's memory. He was one of these folk I couldn't ever read, a little like Chiron himself. But judging from the way his hands seemed to be shaking as he dug the photograph from a wallet he held in his pocket (he had these awfully big indigo blue jeans) he wasn't all right. "This isn't good at all..." He stated even himself as he dug up the photo. "My hands don't usually shake. They never shake. Otherwise I couldn't even throw darts - and those Cyclops would have never..."

Then he suddenly froze and stared right through me with awfully big eyes. Then he lowered his gaze but had his eyes all wide open all the time, as if he couldn't even blink them at all.

"It's my fault," He started, and he freaked me out as he said it. "Viquel's death... the Cyclops were following me, and if I had let them take me already the time they came after my family, they wouldn't have come after me, and Viquel-"

Then he raised his gaze again and gave the photograph to me as if he wanted to get rid of it as fast as possible, but didn't still look at me. I wish I could've said something to it, but I really didn't know what - I had heard people talking like him before, people feeling guilty about things they shouldn't be guilty of, people plotting revenge. But they had never actually been serious, and Ivan was so odd in that sense. He didn't even say anything, but the look on his face made him look like a Nemesis kid. Like all the balance in the world would've gone wrong after the happenings on Ivan's quest. I really wanted to know more about what had happened, but Ivan just stood there silent, combing his hair all the time by running his fingers through it. The meantime I took hold of the photo of Viquel and stared at it pretty long. She was pretty nice looking and I couldn't say her age looking at the picture, but staring at it made me imagine the quest of Ivan and Viquel. They looked almost like sisters as they had the same kind of dark hair, but Viquel's eyes were a colour I couldn't tell and she wore a rainbow dress and red rubber boots, as Ivan sat there in his indigo blue jeans and a ripped, dirty blouse.

"It is about time for someone to sort everything out," Ivan began. Gods, he sounded determined. "Things haven't gotten any better after the war 10 years ago. I thought an event like it would've made the gods stronger, weaken the monsters which were the reasons to many innocent deaths during it... but the same destruction lies still here. And the Underworld only gets more inhabitants, grows large though its Lord wishes for else."

I bit my lips. It was pretty damn hard to comment on anything Ivan said. As if he was talking to himself. But as I looked around I noticed something - I was in the Hades cabin and Ivan, the son of Nyx, claimed to live there, he even claimed to own my bed. I was sorta getting filled by questions.

"Mm... Ivan?"

He didn't look at me, but I could somehow sense that he was listening. His gaze wasn't anywhere faraway, he wasn't lost in his memories or a world of his own. But I knew already before he answered why he could stay in the Hades cabin. I couldn't directly remember what Polly Princeton had told me on the bonfire a day ago, but it was somehow related to a boy who's mother didn't have a cabin built to her, so he could stay in the Hades cabin. I didn't know was it the real reason he could stay there, but for some reason I thought that Nyx was a dark goddess enough to get well on with Hades, the Lord of the Underworld.

So I decided to ask something else. I sorta knew half of the answer, but I had never really understood it. "Why there aren't any Hades kids here? It feels like this cabin was built for nothing - and now that he has a permission to get more children..."

"He does have children, I guess you already knew that. But they all live in the Underworld; Hades explained the reason to the world once. He is still not an Olympian, and believed that after the happenings about ten years ago he would receive more glory... But that didn't happen. He's still angry at us and he doesn't want his children to even see us, because we wouldn't accept them. I bet he's growing an army there underground or something."

Again I started thinking about the '_my father rules the Realm of the Dead!'_ thing. It made me feel sad. I felt like an outcast, abandoned and lonely. "Why don't I then live in the Underworld, with all my lost siblings, how am I so different? This is... odd. I should've known about it before - and my mother - she doesn't even remember anything about my father! Like it would have been only a... dream."

"Somehow it has though happened - and even though you feel more connected to Hades than to Zeus, you must always keep alive the chance that Hades is the one who made a mistake, not Zeus. Zeus had never been a very good father - well, he feels pity for his children and everything - after all, he rescued his demigod daughter Thalia from death, but it might be possible for him to have forgotten. More I cannot say - and now you have a decision to make. Hades just got to know his fatherhood, and Zeus is trying to confirm the same - you must decide, will you go up to the heavens or down to the unseen. Now we cannot trust on prophecies - Zeus or Hades must both explore their past, and though they are immortal and remember more things you ever will, they are fallible too. One of them has made a mistake. Now we will wait - await for either of them to admit it."

Okay. I must admit I didn't really understand anything about what Ivan was talking about. He sounded like a freakin' teacher. But one thing I got from all it (the nightmare for someone with as lousy vocabulary as I) - I had a pretty damn hard decision to make. And I couldn't possibly do it alone.

Towards my next doom I walked alone on my way to the Main Building. This was probably the only thing I didn't want Marié or anyone to take part - I just wanted to talk between me and Chiron. He was wise and a thousand years old and everything, so maybe he'd explain all the stuff I didn't understand in a way I could get it - like replace all the freaky terms with names of different foods (and so Cherry Ice-cream married Double Cheesecake, and they ruled the realm of Strawberry yoghurt until the end of time...) or then just show me the cursed introduction film again. I really needed an eye-opener; and I didn't matter was it a freaky film, a guy with the lower body of a horse or a can of coke. I sorta wished it would be the last.

On the way to the Main building I saw campers with a dark shadow glimmering over them, and even the stars seemed to dim now that one of the campers had left us. I could see how rainbow-coloured torches were burnt everywhere - and for once the Iris cabin would get the honour it had wished for - though the way through they did get it wasn't the best it could've been. Thank gods Chiron was at the main building, but he seemed busy. All the satyrs were also in a pretty nice hurry - they wore these depressing black Hawaii shirts and seemed to sigh all the time. The whole damn building was filled by people with hoofs. It made me sorta crazy.

"If it is not you, Elea!" Chiron sounded oddly happy as he saw me. "Do you feel... enlightened? I already heard Greta turned to you with her sorrow."

I kinda gulped. I had seen the photo of Viquel and everything, but the topic of the conversation had sorta drifted into a different direction. I still couldn't see Viquel in my mind - I just kept on thinking about my father and every now and then I thought about the photo with the girl with brown hair and red rubber boots, but nothing else I could see. I bet Ivan had just thrown one of his darts into my inner eye.

"Yes, she did. But it has been hard for me to just see it... I don't know Viquel well enough to tell. If she would've been like my mother, maybe then..."

After I told that Chiron sounded suddenly awfully apathetic. I hated when people spoke to me with a voice like that. "Well, you are right. People just seem to be inclined to see and feel things important to them more clearly - and sense them. But I must say I am disappointed - I thought that this would solve out already now. But I do not blame you, no - this quest must have been a little too hard for you to begin with."

And from the word quest something came into my mind. Maybe it was the reason I actually wanted to come here at first, but I was still pretty unsure about the thing with the quests. Could I just assign myself on a quest, without anyone's permission? Just leave without anyone guiding me. I sorta had this feeling the customs were a little different in that situation.

"I wish to go on a quest."

Chiron was so damn puzzling. I could never tell what he was thinking of - his gaze was just so odd all the time, and he could look like a professor though he was thinking of something as stupid as a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. And this time as he took me to some cursed attic I had never even heard of I knew I wouldn't ever be able to read his thoughts. Even though I'd have the ability to see into people's minds.

"Well, I must say I am surprised. You are more a daredevil than I even thought. But what do you wish to do on this quest? What is your... uhm... destination?"

"Oh, I don't actually know. I'd just like to know who is my cursed father."

Chiron laughed. "So, that is your plan! You came just in the right time. She just arrived here, only yesterday. She's a little drowsy now though... being the Oracle is not ever easy, you know."

Honestly, I had no idea what in the world was an oracle. But there I was left alone with her - on this damn attic, all damp and cold - and there with me was some girl with all red hair, a little like Gracie's, but sorta more shiny, and the colour was so bright I could spot her about a mile away.

Her name was Rachel Elizabeth Dare, and she had a freakin' serious personality disorder.

She must've been about in her late twenties or something, I couldn't actually tell her age, but one thing I knew - she had a pretty miserable fate. She told me she was a mortal and everything and it felt sorta funny - they shouldn't even be able to cross the camp borders. But then she told me she had these freaky visions of stuff because the spirit of the Oracle of Delphi lived inside her. It made me step back a few steps and everything, it scared me quite a bit. But she told me she wouldn't stay as the oracle much longer, because she was getting older and everything, but for now she would tell me what I needed to do.

She looked sorta like Gracie. Even from her face, but her eyes were all green and she had pretty fancy clothes like she was rich.

"So, you just sit all day here at the attic?" I asked her, but then she told me she really didn't live on the camp - she just went home when she wasn't needed and Chiron phoned her every now and then, when believing that her prophecies would be needed.

"And so you are the daughter of either Hades or Zeus. Your quest will be determined by my prophecy, but don't count on it being nice and everything. And don't start thinking of yourself as a hero or something as you hear this. All heroes doom themselves by being too self-confident."

This Rachel had a glass of water right next to her, and after she had told me those words she took a swig. For a second she looked all normal and everything, but then something pretty freaky happened - I almost got traumatised or something. She suddenly bended as if she was to puke and after she could keep herself standing she stared at me, but her eyes weren't normal. They seemed greener than usual, even the eyeballs glowed like neon, and she spoke in this awfully scratchy voice. She was definitely possessed by evil. Or something beyond my understanding...

_"Five shall travel through the forbidden waters..."_ Rachel began, looking at me like a maniac. This sounded already now pretty damn stupid. Like I was going on a huge ADVENTURE written in capital letters. I didn't know what it would be like, but already now I knew I couldn't do this alone. And I needed four people to come with me, solve this cursed thing? I knew Marié and Gracie could come... but who else?

And then she told me the end of the prophecy;

_"...The solvers of the quirrell between the fathers_

_But the journey shall be end of one's calling_

_For the fought one, crafty, wily or cunning_

_And the child slaid thru the elder's hand_

_Shall rise from the rivers beneath the land_

_And the one of the six still unclaimed -_

_A price for his sacrifice will be paid."_

Already on the last word Rachel sounded like she was choking or something, but then she looked again normal, as if she would've done nothing. "Sorry. I cannot remember the prophecy myself - they just come out of nowhere, but could you please tell me what it was? I have to ask this from everyone, because we wait for the next Great Prophecy told 10 years ago to be fulfilled. Is it the one?"

"I don't even know what the damn Great Prophecy even tells about. But this one speaks about five travelling throu-"

"That's already fine," Rachel commented. "The next Great Prophecy speaks of seven. I believe this is your quest to solve only what is wrong with you and your family. The apocalypse isn't mentioned in it or anything?"

"No," I told her, but left the rest unsaid. I started already now to forget the whole thing which was bad, because I was the only one who knew it. I should've written it up or something. But one thing I did know after hearing my destiny; one of my friends would probably die, or then it was myself. I just kinda had this feeling I was the _fought one_ the prophecy spoke about. I just hoped the cunning wouldn't mean Marié. Something like _little _would've suited her better.

"I wish you luck. Though you're still not the one fulfilling the Great Prophecy... and I just kinda have this feeling I have to stay as the oracle until I actually read the prophecy to someone..."

Then she sighed and looked at me with her freaky eyes. I didn't know what was happening with her, but it seemed like every time the Oracle of Delphi took over her these smoky snakes seemed to appear around her, just out of nowhere. It scared me.

This sizzling sound of the spirit whatsoever still rang in my ears as I left the Main building. I knew now what was my destiny, but I really hadn't guessed that things would be so... unclear. Like travelling through the Forbidden waters? What the freakin' thing was that all about?

Now I should choose four people to come with me. Two were already there... but another two was a little harder. Maybe I should talk to Marié. Or use the Iris connection for free as now was the opportunity for it. I shuddered as I thought about it - it was already twilight, and the rainbow torches lit the whole world up, but still with a light of sorrow. I could still see rays of the sun lighting up the skies, painting everything the shades of pink and orange, but all of earth was filled with shadows. I decided to think about things for a little while, like walk around and stuff. I hadn't yet fully explored the camp - I just about knew only the Main building - cabins - food pavilion-area, and had even no idea that there was some sort of stream running through the camp. I had seen a glimpse of the ocean the day I arrived, and seeing it would probably calm me down too. Tough I even wasn't pretty much of a water person. So I strolled near the sea before I got to dinner, the prophecy in my mind, and I somehow had this feeling that this would be one of my last moments here. Next morning I would already be in such danger – or actually… I had been in danger all the time; now I would only get to know what… or who was the one threatening me.

The next morning I must've waken up at six AM. It was because I saw the daybreak-chasers again and the naiads were singing – they sang beautifully, but somehow sadly, as in memoriam for Viquel Chesapeake. I was sorta glad I woke up so early. There was no Marié or Gracie or even Ivan to stalk me there. Ivan was a mysterious person. He lived in my cabin and everything, but the time I got there he even wasn't there, and as I was so tired I'd collapse on the floor if I would've stayed awake any longer, I just slept there. And Ivan wasn't there even in the morning, and he couldn't possibly have left – his stuff was still there, but maybe he'd just gone for a walk or something. I wouldn't be surprised – his dear friend had just passed away, and somehow, even I hadn't even known Viquel ever, I seemed to feel empathy for Ivan, or then I was starting to get a connection with the realm of the dead – I felt very empty, it was the hole-thing again. Like someone had taken all my insides out and left only a cold breeze blowing there.

The time the first rays of sunshine crashed on the surface of the water in the stream of the woods and split into a million colours, I felt as if everything on that day would make their tribute to Viquel. The rays of light formed rainbows, coloured prisms and even the sky was painted in so many colours I couldn't even tell all of them. And all felt so sad and quiet, so unnaturally quiet. The trees cast long shadows on me and I listened to the quiet flowing of the stream. The day was beautiful but a little cold, and I right then knew that winter was coming; I couldn't walk outside any more with only a t-shirt on. And it was still only September.

Somewhere far away from the food pavilion, far away from the main building, maybe close to the archery field or something, I heard a weird sound. It was as if some bug like a dragonfly was flying there, right next to my ear – the sound of something colliding with the wind, ripping the air apart by its fast moves. But it wasn't a dragonfly, not even a bee or any bug – but Titus – he stood on the other side of the stream, the place where the stream got thicker, the voice stronger. The noise I had heard must've came out of Titus' sword – how it pierced the air as he swung it back and forth, a weapon of so much force. Titus wore a white layered tee and a black undershirt, and I couldn't see him from the front – I saw only his back and how his hair shaped like waves swung from direction to direction as he seemed to fight against something I couldn't see. But the thing was – he wasn't even fighting. He just played off with his sword, alone in the woods, and for a second I thought Erin would suddenly appear out of somewhere, but no-one came. Curiously I took a few steps forward and made quite a mistake – somehow I had just been so close to the edge of the stream I hadn't even noticed it being there, and in seconds I could hear a splashing noise and I found myself from the low water on my knees – all wet and cold.

That second Titus could hear me, and now as I knew he was the son of Poseidon, I stepped out of the water as soon as possible – I didn't want Titus to drown me into it with his semi-godly powers or anything. But he wasn't there to fight me, I could see it that second. He just stopped swinging his two-coloured sword back and forth like a pendulum, and now he stared directly at me with his deep, stormy eyes.

"You are no child of the big three," he began. Curses, how menacing he sounded! Had he always sounded that way? It was pretty impossible to tell, because the only thing I had ever heard him say was _hello._

"You are no daughter of Zeus."

Wow, finally someone agreed with me! But somehow I still felt Titus didn't even want to cheer me up with that comment – he said it in a somehow odd way, as if he would've wanted to tear my soul apart. And for some reason I also felt like the comment was meant to a person who actually was a daughter of Zeus, but to crush her self-esteem down like a bug by denying everything possible.

"My father is Hades," I continued, whispering. I wondered did Titus even hear me, but maybe he could read from my lips. "I don't even look like Zeus. Do I and Erin look similar?"

I kinda meant it to be a rhetorical question, but Titus seemed to take it personally. "Do not compare Erin with you, unworthy!" He spat with fury in his gaze, and the next thing he told me wasn't really the nicest he could've said. Was that _fear_ I felt deep inside? "Your aura is weak. You must leave this camp."

I sorta laughed then. What cursed thing did he mean by speaking of my aura? Like he actually had the power to see my _aura_ or something as stupid.

"And what will you do to get rid of me?" I asked him, with this damn maniac smile on my face. I could've probably added something even nastier there, but I decided I'd take it easy with Titus. He seemed like a pretty hot-tempered person; like he'd blow me into bits if I'd tell him I couldn't remember his father's name.

"I shall make sure, that no god ever cares for you. Poseidon, my father, will take care of that. If you hurt me, he will know, and soon will know Zeus and Hades too. They will."

Suddenly fear again took over me. I really hated that feeling – I wanted to keep myself together, think of some great verbal insult or something, but due my lousy vocabulary I sucked in making up great insults. So I just screamed with this awfully trembling voice: "Why do you think I should hurt you?"

And it was true. I meant it – even though it was pretty impolite to just say _hello _to me and then threaten to kill me, I didn't want to slice Titus into bits or anything. But that moment I wished for something to save me – just because I didn't have anything to protect myself from the insults about my father – just because I didn't know who he was. It made me unsure of everything – as well I felt unsure about myself, like the fact what were my strengths and weaknesses, which cabin I belonged into. But one thing I for sure knew – if Zeus or Hades was my parent, Titus was pretty closely a relative and everything. Saying that definitely wasn't the smartest thing to do. "You... you are my cousin, anyway."

Something happened to Titus' eyes then; it was like they had suddenly turned deeper, darker. Like some freakin' giant wave was gathering strength in them. I had never thought of him as a really good guy, but now I definitely knew that I had been right. In seconds I heard this sudden SWOOSH, just like someone had turned on the hugest garden hose in the universe, and then I saw the skies coming down. For real. The clouds which had just a while ago been calm and pastel-coloured had turned menacingly and unnaturally blue, like they had been holding the rain for a millennium. They covered the sun and just stayed there for a few seconds that felt like a lifetime – and then it all came down with a sound worthy of an aeroplane flying right next my ear. Huge masses of water poured down from the clouds and it seemed at first just like normal rain. The only difference was that I couldn't see droplets; I saw only water, being poured down like it came from a giant bucket.

"Don't!" I screamed in this extremely corny way – but I just couldn't help that fear. It was a million times more freaky than the first time I was attacked by the Perverts and Chiron came in his blazing white chopper. Things got pretty freaky when I saw the rain reaching to Titus; it covered him and I could see him through it, like I was staring through a waterfall. I had never known a son of Poseidon could be that powerful. And for the first time in probably his whole life… he smiled.

I closed my eyes and concentrated; _this is just a nightmare, this is just a nightmare. _As the noise just got louder and louder I already thought I was gone, and the time I remembered seeing through my closed eyes a wall of pure energy colliding with Titus' mirror of water, I didn't know was I alive or dead or somewhere in the beyond. I couldn't see anything anymore.


	10. THE ROLES ARE DIVIDED

**PART 4: PRESENT**

THE ROLES ARE DIVIDED

Dead people live in a dead world, see dead things, feel dead things. But the thing I remembered feeling was something in between – like a tiny string was keeping me still there in the upper world of the Living, but everything was dark and all light was gone, and I couldn't feel a wind in my ears any more, like the soul living there, the one keeping up everything good was gone. The soul giving me a slight breeze within. I couldn't feel anything, really, not even pain. It was just complete darkness then, and as I stayed like that for a long time, just drifting in emptiness with no destination, I knew I wasn't dead.

I seemed to climb up stairs with no end to them. Luminous stairs floating in blackness, ringing in a different tone on each and every step. I was in the realm of the unseen, but dead, no. I couldn't yet tell was I a daughter of Hades, but feeling like that made me so unsure. If I would die, I would already have faced a choice – whether to go; to the endless white fields of a life without meaning, or somewhere I should be responsible of all I had done. But the thing was; floating there without me feeling, seeing, touching, hearing or tasting anything, I couldn't remember a thing out of my life, what had it been like, did someone actually care for me, and who was that someone. There was only a world of nothing, just me, a lost soul in the lands of the neither dead, neither living.

I took a deep breath as if diving out of deep water. On the last steps of the endless glass staircase I started slightly to remember, remember how was living, what the stars looked like. And what was their meaning up there, as they neither didn't exist or existed; I knew I was aware, somehow conscious. Why shine down from the same old sky to be forgotten – only pictures in such heights, that no-one could ever understand them?

And the answer was distances; for distances they did exist – to tell us about a world that was there but what we couldn't see – a world that couldn't exist without someone knowing about it. And every time we gazed up to the skies maybe to see a shooting star – someone up there gazed back.

Why would the stars then glimmer, shine for no reason? Even someone so far away – someone up there knew it too; and the ones there in the unseen, they saw us too, in a world unreachable of their own.

Every time a person departed this life, left our time, died away like a candle without breath, their soul didn't only leave to the Underworld, to live again but still not live, from time to time. Their senses, everything that made them alive, it just parted the soul – and left to the never-forgotten; to light up a new star in the sky, so as the immortal siblings were made the seven Pleiades, Hunter Zoë climbed up to reach the unbelievable heights. And her sight, scent, able to feel, taste and hear – they made the five stars of her constellation: to shine down from the everlasting.

* * *

I woke up with a shivering breath, cold and all wet, like I had just prevented myself from drowning.

And that minute I remembered that I did. I remembered this boy with the wavy hair and the two-coloured sword, and the tides in the skies crashing on me, and how I somehow prevented them from moving further than where I was, but that boy... who was he? He was Erin Grinder's boyfriend and the son of Poseidon, but I couldn't remember him by name. Where was I? Everywhere around me was very white and somehow oddly bright, like in heaven.

Then I heard some voices. I didn't have the power to turn around, and the voices just got closer, so close that I could see two figures. They were only shadows on a bright surface, but I could hear their voices very well. They were quarrelling. The first sentence I heard one of them say though wasn't one I could've believed.

"I rule this universe, death-breath!"

What was the guy talking about? Wasn't that the eh... nickname for Hades?

"You will be very, very sorry about that, brother."

I could recognise neither of the voices, but for some odd reason I was a 100% sure that the voices I was listening to were Zeus' and Hades'. Who else could have such a stubborn attitude - who else ruled the universe than Zeus? And... well, Hades I already knew.

Then they seemed to start to argue in ancient Greek, and though I could read it, as it was spoken it was pretty hard for me to understand. They seemed to come closer, so close that I almost saw their faces, but they were still only silhouettes to me. And just when they were getting clear to me, everything got dark, but then the environment sorta changed - and I found myself from some cabin I had been in before... from camp half-blood. I noticed I was looking at a fountain with a rainbow on it - this must have been the Iris cabin.

"You saw that?"A familiar voice spoke. I turned around in a flash, which probably wasn't pretty safe. My ears felt all moist like they would be full of water and the feeling made me sorta dizzy. But I was sure I was now looking at a figure... no, there were many of them - and one I could recognise as Ivan Shore.

"What the... you know, was that?"

"An Iris message," Ivan spoke. Thank gods his voice was clear. "I bet you already guessed who you saw?"

"Was that... Zeus and Hades?"

The thunder seemed to grumble outside.

"Yes."

I had heard the voice of my both potential fathers. But still neither of them seemed familiar to me – like I had never heard them before. But one thing I knew – this was a clue to the bigger picture.

The other figures could be soon recognised as familiar, too - Marié, Gracie. But who was the fourth of them? Could that be... Erin?

My sight was indeed pretty crappy. I wasn't looking at Erin, not at all - but at Chiron, who seemed to smile at me from the door, but then he raced away as soon as he had come. "I heard you've gone to see the Oracle."

As I started to explain things about the oracle, all seemed to become more clear, piece by piece. I couldn't still fully remember the prophecy, but the main parts of it were still somehow in my mind. "I will leave with four. Could they be you all? And Chiron?"

Ivan laughed as he heard my idea. "No. Chiron never goes on quests with the campers. He has done that in the past, but to me, he is just a teacher. And teachers are never up to anything good."

"Why do you think so?" I sat up, holding my ears, because they hurt pretty damn much. "Chiron's great."

"I've never admired teachers..." Ivan sighed, looking around him somehow anxiously, as if being in the Iris cabin would sicken him. "They think they are wise, so much wiser than us - it's the same thing with old people, but they really aren't... I think, that if for once the little and young would be heard things could be better - because we still think of ourselves as immortal."

I bet Ivan didn't hate teachers for no reason - maybe he wanted to be the best teacher of all, that's why he hated the others. Well, he sounded anyway pretty academic... or should I say... philosophic. Somehow like Chiron - but he wasn't a thousand years old.

"Well, we need only one extra, if you three join with me. Do you think... it is a little too hard for you?"

"No way!" Gracie shouted, and almost broke my ears. "You know, that I've for my whole life waited to get on a quest. Camping life is a bore... and I don't want to spend the rest of my life building mechanical spiders or something like that."

I sorta smiled. Ivan nodded too, and I had kinda guessed he was pretty eager to join. Well, for a while ago I would've thought of him as a great bastard as he claimed to own my whole cabin, but he was wise and everything. "Things have just gotten worse since Viquel left us. For me, this quest is to gain vengeance for her death. And maybe bring her back... what did the end of the prophecy say? Could it be possible?"

I thought about the part of it I had never understood. It spoke about a child slaid through the elder's hand to rise again - but Viquel had been killed by a Cyclops, not some murderous Iris. Things got pretty complicated in that part. But I still mentioned it to Ivan, so he nodded and gave us a determined look.

"Yes. I shall lead you, is that fine? I know this world as good as my own pockets. I and Viquel traveled into so many places, and wherever the road takes us - Olympus or the Underworld, I will find the way. And you, mm... Elea's friend?"

"Marié," she introduced herself. "Well... if we're to solve family stuff, I think I better come with you. I think I'm gonna become a therapist or something as I grow up. I hate when families fall apart."

Everyone seemed quite excited then, but still something was wrong. We had absolutely no idea who the fifth one joining to the quest could be. I would've said Erin, but there was one problem; she had gone missing. Just like Titus - smiling Titus, who had disappeared behind his own wall of water.

One thing we got though right in the beginning. The prophecy had given everyone a certain role, and they seemed to be all pretty different. We just couldn't for example pick 10 Ares kids if the prophecy said peaceful and polite. I already knew what my role was - even though it was the crappiest of them all. Already the name sounded stupid: The fought one. Okay, my fathers were fighting of my attention, but it made me sound like I was THE CHOSEN ONE or something as stupid. I had always hated when I got _too much_ attention - attention of stuff I hadn't even yet done. And well... when I got that attention, I'd like to be called just Elea, not anything like the names mentioned in the prophecy.

I right away got that Gracie would be the crafty one. She could just build anything out of well... anything! I had never really gotten how many weapons she carried at once, but one thing I knew for sure - there were many of them. She had the necklace I had seen her already use, but I somehow I knew it wasn't the most important of her weapons. Well... I really didn't want her to start showing them off there, like... if a six meter spear would emerge of her bracelet... It'd be dangerous in such a narrow space. Then, the cunning. I believed it would be either Ivan or Marié, but I was unsure whom. "Well, what do you say?" I asked them, but Ivan just was pretty silent and Marié then... well, I couldn't say anything about her. "My second name isn't _Medea_ for no reason," I heard her say, but it took me a while to get what she had said. I think I had once heard the story of Medea - she was the daughter of a king of Colchis, and she did things like helped Jason get the Golden Fleece - and her name even meant _cunning_ - so it must've been Marié's role. Then the last role yet untold... the wily.

Okay. My first reaction was "what in the Hades does that mean?" And due my lousy vocabulary I couldn't possibly have known. But Ivan, the professor of our group, knew it already from the beginning.

"Hmm. It's a pretty old word for you know... clever. Sly, or should I even say crooked... but not evil, no. Even though it was the nickname of the Lord of the Titans..."

Here it came again. But though I guessed Ivan would start and do some damn lecture, he stayed pretty silent. The only thing he said after silence and another look through me - he looked always _through_ people, not at them - was "could it mean me?"

"Oh, it's not a very nice word, not at all..." Gracie mumbled. "It seems like... well, not a very nice part."

Sometimes Gracie's way of speech could really irritate me. As well to her epic-mania she kept on repeating things like 'not nice' and 'not nice at all', and I sorta started to think I wasn't the only one with lousy vocabs there. I started to think about the word, then. Could Ivan be wily? I thought of her as kinda clever, but I didn't know him well enough to say could he do things just for himself - I had met enough people to tell, that to be clever, you also needed to be selfish.

"Its fine, I'll take the part!" Ivan kept on repeating, as we kept on asking him did he really want the part - but the thing just was; if I would've been Ivan, I would've chosen my role carefully. He had the opportunity to do it, but I didn't - just because no-one else here had as lousy parents as I. That minute I thought about it again, and I could admit it – I missed home. But how could I go back now? I didn't even know the way – and it seemed like the only thing I could do now was to follow the path an oracle with a serious personality disorder had given me.

As we had the roles divided we decided to get to the main building, all in this big bunch, if like Chiron could give us something to take with us to the quest, but the freakin' pony was sleeping. I had kinda been out of what the time was after I had passed out for... well, I didn't even know how long. But we ran into Rachel Elizabeth Dare, the oracle who was just about to leave - maybe, because she didn't like to give stupid prophecies all the time. She raised her thumbs up for us and carried her suitcase to some taxi waiting for her outside the camp borders and I shuddered as if I could've still noticed a tint of green in her eyeballs. "She looks pretty normal!" Marié had commented with her low voice, but well... she hadn't met her or anything. If she would've, her opinion would be slightly different.

So we decided to wait till dawn. We left the main building and in all that complete darkness I could see the stars. There was though something odd about them. I had noticed that as I walked with Gracie and Marié, they looked exactly normal, but when I followed Ivan they seemed to slightly dim, like he would have cast a shadow over them. "How do you do that?" I asked, and then he turned to me, so that I gasped. In the dark he looked so beautiful that for a second it was hard for me to breath, but I wasn't the only one feeling that way. Marié almost fainted. "How do you do _that?"_ I repeated, and suddenly I thought of Ivan's mother - she was Nyx, but the goddess of... what? I somehow thought of darkness, but Ivan's answer was different.

"Well, Elea, as you are such a good guesser..." He began, making me smile as he could even pronounce my damn _name_ right. "You wish to get it yourself? Do you know who is Hemera?"

"She's the... goddess of daytime," I answered. "The daybreak-chasers live in her cabin..."

"...and?"

Then I got it. Okay, Ivan wasn't trying to hint in himself being a son of Hemera or anything - if he were, he'd have slept already for like five hours, but he gave me a pretty good tip. And from that second I knew that Ivan was the only son of Nyx ever heard of in the modern times - the son of the Night.

"You do that? Make the stars go out?"

"I don't actually affect on their light," Ivan smirked. He closed his eyes when he spoke - he did that very often - and I was pretty amused on how he could still keep on walking without fear of crashing into a cursed tree or something as stupid. "I just make the sight of the ones close dim - I sort of create a darkness barrier around us. My power doesn't reach up there, and you know, this affects on only a very little radius around me."

"You got any more powers?" I asked him. He was turning out to be pretty interesting. I had always thought, since I came to the camp, that the kids of the gods and goddesses who had actually some cool powers like control of the weather or light or darkness, like Ivan, were kinda... well, more powerful, because I couldn't actually think of pretty many semi-godly strengths people like Marié had. She could heal people, but didn't have a specific power. Gracie's father also was a pretty random god - you know, he was the god of handicrafts, so I was pretty puzzled of what could a god like that do, but Gracie had told me the story of her and the fireplace, and her sister who could see through the mist. So, Hephaestus was sorta a god of fire too. And as I kept on thinking about Gracie's half-sister, Camo Stewart, Ivan answered me again.

"Well... I don't actually use them a lot, but I can do things like bring night closer. And again... well, I'm not shifting time. I'm just making the environment darker. I got also a pretty nice night-sight. I could walk through this forest my eyes closed, actually."

Then I heard an OUCH and a THUMP.

I turned my back and a smile spread on my face. Okay, I shouldn't have smiled, because the thing wasn't actually funny, but the timing was just so awesome. Even Ivan grinned as he saw Gracie fall down to the woods.

"What did you say? _'I could walk through this place with my eyes closed?'_ Well, what's Gracie's case, then?"

Gracie huffed and rose up, but her knees were bleeding again. She even didn't seem to notice it, so I saw Marié let Gracie lean on her - and without Gracie even noticing, her cuts got better of Marié's touch.

"I hate," Gracie began, tidying up her messy, curly hair, "I hate when people do that."

"I'm sorry, Gracie," I tried to sound as honest as I could, "It's just... think of it the way that we're not laughing _at_ you - but _with_ you."

"Yeah..." Gracie mumbled, looking around her in a paranoid way as if there were more branches to trip her down, "I'd laugh too. But it's just... well, my sight sucks. It's because of my father. He was thrown off Mount Olympus as a kid, and he's a little crippled, like you know... none of the Hephaestus kids have a good sight. And the missing piece of my ear... let's thank Hephaestus of it too."

"That's why you bruise so easily?" I asked, and Gracie nodded, starting to rub her cuts like saying that would have made them bleed again. But she though smiled soon as the saw the cabins again - she was probably tired. "Hey, please. Can I sleep in the Hermes cabin, Marié? Or come with you, Ivan and Elea. I hate it in the Hephaestus cabin. It's mainly because of Zacharias... and his stupid cameras. He's a stalker."

"I see no problem in it," I told, but Ivan interrupted me. "We at the Hades cabin are quite short on beds. Elea stole mine and everything. So, if you'll carry your bunk from cabin eight to cabin zero, well... you're welcome."

"Why don't you join too, Marié?" I asked from her, because she had been quite silent for a while and just came behind us in her grey knee-length skirt. "It's like a slumber party. With a guy. It's all normal - I've had a few of them..."

Marié the damn raised her eyebrows. "Wow, Elea. But I got my flute lesson with Fredrick Hayes tonight. We're playing at the lake."

I must say both offers sounded tempting. I wasn't tired at all - maybe, because I had just slept for like a hundred years. I felt like the sleeping beauty or something. Ivan was my wakeup prince and Titus was the evil sorceress or whatever; but the thing just was that I didn't imagine the princess in the story to have a nose like mine. I had the dullest nose in the whole freakin' universe.

"I can't decide," I sighed. "But what if... you'd come over and play in the Hades cabin?"

Okay, it was pretty much the stupidest idea on the camp for like a century. But pretty much the coolest, too. I had a bed there already, I bet Ivan or someone had arranged it there - but it wasn't definitely anyone of the satyrs. They just felt bitter and angry towards me because I hadn't made Greta feel any better and I bet she didn't even leave the cursed cabin anymore. It was odd what sorrow did to people - tore them apart as if there would be nothing else in the world than the things already gone and lost. It was sad.

But still, I did have a bed. It was the same one I slept in on my only night at the Hermes cabin, and as I laid my back on it I started to think. I thought about the freaky dream I saw just before Hades claimed me and this boy with a pretty odd name who had carried me back to sleep as I started to feel so tired that my knees almost gave in. I still owed him something more than just my thanks and as I thought of the possible first name that boy could've owned, I remembered something else of him. He had always sat in the Hermes table by the unclaimed kids, with Uma, who was now in the Hecate cabin, Dido Keene and the others. He had these cool, very deep eyes. I had to see him later.

As Marié and Fredrick both came to our cabin - seriously, Fredrick played the freakin' flute down there - this loud-voiced Ares kid, I bet it was Polly Princeton, came to bang our door as if she were to break in, yelling "We're trying to sleep, ya morons!" And for a second we actually stopped the racket. This Fredrick then - I bet he was as much as a bastard as his father, (I just got this badass image of Apollo because Fredrick actually told he's like a cursed _rapist_ or something) due he just kept on playing his damn flute after the Ares kid had left. Well, no-one dared to interrupt us after that, but I bet people would hate us in the morning. But how should we care? We were going on a quest, leaving this camp, probably permanently.

Or that's what I thought the moment. I had kinda had this feeling since the beginning that I'd just solve things out, like the fatherhood quirrell, probably then return home to live a normal life in a normal world and with normal people. Probably fight one pervert a year. If I'd know my godly parent and semi-godly strengths by then, it'd be no problem; and by then I just didn't get how hard it was to be a half-blood, even for a child of a minor god or goddess, like a son of Nyx - just like Ivan, whose life had been pretty much ruined because of a couple of Cyclops.

This Fredrick turned out to be pretty nice and everything, but he had a pretty huge ego, as he kept talking all the damn time about himself. But he told pretty nice stories and had this fine charm, this thing Erin would describe with the words _innate charisma_ and was fun to hang with. He was also a damn good flutist - and if Marié would keep on listening to him she'd be a pro in no time. As I spoke to Fredrick and he even sat on my freakin' _bed_ the same time as I did, I started to like him, like him as a friend, of course. He was a lot like those boys I met at school, the hockey guys. But I bet Fredrick had never even heard of hockey - he was from the south with his fine tan and blonde, surfer-cut hair. His eyes were though the most interesting thing in him. They were totally amber and the centre was like there was a miniature sun spinning there. Thank gods this Fredrick was used to people staring at him, so he didn't mind at me exploring his eyes. I though must've seemed like a madman then. I had tonnes of other great activities to do and I choose stalking some guys eyes. That sounded pretty much like the normal me.

And during that night I started thinking also about the prophecy. Damn those roles - if a guy explained with the words _laid-back_ or _humoristic_ would've been mentioned there, I'd have picked Fredrick in no time. But the thing just was... the prophecy spoke of an unclaimed child, someone who would make a sacrifice and didn't have to fear death because he was left out of the YOU ARE POSSIBLY GOING TO DIE-list, and have his price paid. The thing about it then was... though I felt sad of dumping Fredrick with the prophecy-thing, I knew who would be the unclaimed child.

When the clock was 4AM and Gracie had fallen asleep on the floor, Ivan started to repeat himself and Fredrick too sounded already slightly tired, a newcomer joined our slumber party.

He had been on the camp the half of his life, since he had been six. He had lived in several different cabins. He had shown semi-godly strengths - but still no god had claimed him.

His name was Pruce.


	11. WE PLAN A VOYAGE TO DEATH HARBOR

**PART 4: PRESENT**

WE PLAN A VOYAGE TO DEATH HARBOR

Pruce was a mysterious person. Okay, that time he joined our slumber party it was almost 6AM and almost everyone was asleep - Fredrick had even left. Marié seemed to recognise the guy the minute I brought him. He had this floppy, long and black hair, but had an odd blue tint to it. His eyes were again the deepest, most beautiful coloured eyes I've ever seen.

"I told I owe you my something," I said to Pruce, as he, rubbing his eyes because it was still night time almost fell asleep on my bed. "Now, I will pay your price."

"Why in this time of the night?" Pruce mumbled. He spoke very quietly and had all the time this sorta in-turned look, as if he was shy. "I have spent numerous nights here on the camp, and yet no-one except you has ever woken up me like that."

Marié looked at me mysteriously. He knew who Pruce was - they had lived in the cabin together for a while and everything, but she still didn't seem to get it. Thank gods Ivan's common sense was still working in that time of the night, and he nodded at Pruce acceptingly. "You are the unclaimed."

"Yes," Pruce mumbled, burying his face into my pillow - I just prayed he didn't drool - "I am. I have been like that for too many years. Why do you..."

"We need you."

Ivan knew pretty many things about Pruce. He had spent many years on the camp, but not yet as many as Pruce. Pruce had came there in the age of six - he had been still so small, and everyone always knew he was a half-blood, it was easy to sense it from already the first touch, but he was an orphan and in those cases getting to know your own parents wasn't as easy. Pruce didn't even know his last name - maybe, because his parents had gone missing in some place where no-one knew them and the orphanage Pruce was taken in was in the other side of the country. Pruce showed the skills of a demigod and he was placed in several cabins after his arrival. He had shown skills in defending and he could also see through the mist, but the greatest of all was his control over water. The time his skills were firstly noticed he acted almost like Titus as he brought a huge rain cloud over the orphanage which was on fire letting the flames out, but he did it much more inconspicuously, not like Titus who brought a hurricane to always-sunny Florida. He was taken to camp half-blood and everything, and usually it takes only about a few years after the first sign of semi-godly abilities for a god to show his parenthood. But Pruce waited half of his life - in vain. He was placed in the Poseidon cabin and everything, even before Titus had arrived, but as he came there he could sense Pruce wasn't a son of Poseidon. They asked the sea god himself; what to do with this boy, who even wasn't his son but showed still the same skills. Guesses of minor sea gods and goddesses were made, like Thalassa, but Pruce wasn't a son of them either. And though Poseidon denied his own child, everyone believed Pruce was one - just lost and abandoned, forgotten by everyone.

He was shy and quiet. Every time I or Marié or someone else asked something we had to request him to repeat what he had said. There were other unclaimed kids on the camp as well Pruce, like this Dido Keene, but how come they could be the children mentioned in the prophecy? There was a possibility of like 1%, but Pruce beat them all 100-0, because everything in him spoke of an unclaimed child: unsure of his heritage, unsure of his skills, unsure of himself. I felt sorta like that too, but thank gods I even knew who my mother was - and two possible fathers. But that was the main problem - and if I could've chosen, I'd be a daughter of neither. I'd be just Elea, because killing birds wasn't always nice and I didn't like seeing demigod dreams. They'd be cool if they were like the ones Marié saw, because stuff she decided in a dream didn't come true. If I had to choose, I'd just be a Hermes kid. Like Marié. She didn't have to worry about monsters because they never attacked her and her wounds healed themselves. I bet she'd become the best doctor in the world and gain millions - or then she'd just rob a bank and gain the same money. Hermes was the protector of both, you know. It was kinda easy for Gracie too - well, minus the crippled father and the easy bleeding. She had never had any kind of freaks coming after her, though her father was an Olympian and everything. It was so very odd - Viquel and Ivan both had non-Olympian parents, and still they were chased by monsters who didn't come after us. They lacked in skills of self-defence, and for some reason their life seemed so much harder. A little like mine. Chased by the League of Perverts every damn single day. If I'd ever walk out the camp area, I bet I'd be eaten in 5 seconds. For some reason I knew I was in grave danger.

_"...and the one of the six still unclaimed -_

_The price for his sacrifice will be paid."_

Pruce tilted his head. "And so... I am the unclaimed child of the prophecy?"

"I believe so," I told. "The prophecy says 'his'. How many are there unclaimed male kids here?"

Pruce turned pale, his turquoise eyes seemed to flash. "I am the only one."

It sorta surprised us too. But another problem was then solved again - and the roles were now given. All except... one.

"The one of the SIX, Elea," Ivan suddenly interrupted me. "How many are there us here?"

I must've seemed a little damn stupid because I even started counting us with a finger. "Marié, Ivan, Gracie, Pruce... four?"

"You forgot to count yourself," Gracie snapped - she had woken up from the floor. "That's five."

Yes. The prophecy spoke of six... but what could that mean? There wasn't a role mentioned for a camper in it anymore. But if I could remember it all right, the sixth role was there. It had been there all the time. It though didn't belong to anyone of us... and seemed like the scariest of them all.

_"The child slaid thru the elder's hand shall rise from the rivers beneath the land."_

"What does the 'elder' mean?" Marié spoke awfully fast - she acted totally hyper though she hadn't slept at all. "An old person or..."

"The father," Ivan commented. "Or... well, it can't possibly be the mother - how many mothers _actually_ kill their own kids?"

"You can't tell that, for sure," I the damn raised my eyebrows. The motions here were kinda catchy. "It's not the most important thing, anyway. But what do they mean with 'shall rise from the rivers beneath the land?'"

"The Underworld," Gracie, Marié, Ivan and Pruce all said at once, which made me feel like I was pretty dumb for not knowing. "The one mentioned is anyway dead, he was slaid and everything, but what does the prophecy mean by _the rivers?"_

"Acheron, Lethe, Cocytus," Pruce raised his head. His eyes glowed in a weird way, like he was possessed with something. "...Styx," He said, and then his gaze again turned hazy, like he wasn't interested in anything anymore. It anyway amazed me.

"You're a freakin' professor, Pruce!" I commented, but he just tilted his head again a little, like it would be his way of nodding his head.

"That's pretty many rivers," Marié sounded just as amused as I was. "How come we may ever-"

"Phlegethon, Eridanos, Alpheus," someone mumbled. I soon could recognise him as Pruce. "That's all."

"...it's _seven_ rivers?" I kept on shouting. I was like hyper. "How come we may ever know, what is the right one?"

"I bet its Styx," Ivan said. "It's the most important of them, and the Phl-Phlegeth-"

Ivan huffed in irritation and looked at me pleadingly, but as I tried to pronounce the name of the river, I just couldn't do it. Couldn't do the damn thing.

"Pruce?" My jaw almost dropped. I, Ivan, Marié or Gracie, neither of us could pronounce so stupid, long names, just because we had dyslexia, but Pruce seemed to have no problem in it. "How did you do that?"

"Do what?" He asked, holding my pillow in his hands like he hadn't ever seen such a thing. "Phlegethon?"

"...you're a freakin' professor, Pruce," I repeated, and this time the little guy actually smiled. How old was he, 11, 12, 13? I really couldn't say. By his height and body I could say about 12, but his eyes were like an old man's. They were as deep and wise as Chiron's, reflecting a soul that seemed so old but yet so young. How could that be possible? But I asked him no more. He was a lost traveller, a wanderer. I felt sorta happy as I decided to take him with me. He was in such a same kind of situation I was in, and maybe this quest could be the possibility for him to get to know himself. And he could always guide us wherever he liked, because he was even more a professor than even Ivan was. I think he sorta sensed it, because after what Pruce had said Ivan started a damn long lecture about how the _P-river_ with the _C-river_ and _A-river_ #2 united with the Styx somewhere in the Underworld. I had never been in the Underworld, but I guessed it was a pretty large of a place. After all - it was a whole world, just unable for us to see - somewhere our gazes couldn't reach.

"I just then hope that the guy then rises from the rivers himself without us having to drag him up of something. I don't wanna act freakin' Hercules, you know."

"You know something, Elea?" Gracie started. "You don't age swimming in the river Styx. You just die."

"...well, that's what I totally don't want to do!"

The prophecy was solved up to that point. So, all seemed well, but still something bothered us. The _forbidden waters_ the prophecy was talking about - something we should travel thru. Neither of us kinda got it, so we decided to begin by speaking with Chiron. Right after we'd have some good ol' sleep, because Gracie's eyes were all red and this Pruce didn't seem pretty happy either. So Ivan and I went to sleep right there, and Marié somehow managed to drag herself with Pruce to the Hermes cabin - and Gracie, well, she probably slept outside or something, because he hated Zacharias so.

I dunno what the others were dreaming of, but I knew one thing. In my dream I used drugs.

...or did something with a freakin' drug needle. I had slept a lot and I kinda thought I even shouldn't have slept, but I anyway did. So, this time the dream looked very clear, like someone had used a cloth to rub the dirt out and in it I was on some sort of cliff. Everywhere around me I could see this haze, which covered the rocks and the figures I could also see on the cliff. I heard someone shout: "Look!" And I stepped forward (with the cursed drug needle in my hand) and saw a pretty cool view. It was though somehow terrifying, too. Somewhere down there, by the exactly normal-looking shore, there raised a horrible black fortress or something, but as I glared at a little closer I could see that it wasn't a castle at all - but this damn harbour - there were ships and everything there, but everything was somehow... hazy. Like they were made of smoke or they weren't real at all. And somehow, though I had never seen the freakin' place in my whole life, I could tell it was where we were going.

The time I opened my eyes Ivan was already awake. He had a small black packsack on his bed, which looked so full like he'd already have packed it. "Morning!" He said after I had noticed I was awake, though I think he didn't even look into my direction. "It's no need to wake up yet, if you're drowsy. It's only 8AM."

"I slept for... two hours?!"

"You did. Aren't you tired?"

"Not!" I threw my messy blanket aside, as if I wouldn't even care of how the naiads would freak out after seeing in what condition we left the cabin. "What's Death Harbour?"

Ivan turned to me with his eyes huge, and I sorta covered my mouth with my palm. What damn thing had I just asked? I couldn't even remember hearing that name before.

"Why do you need to know?" He asked me, putting his over-sized skater-shoes into his feet. "It's like we had to get there."

"I'd just like to know. Because I hadn't even heard the freakin' name until a second ago, as I asked it from you."

Ivan looked pretty unbelieving as if he thought I'd be lying, so he just shrugged his shoulders; probably he thought I wanted to play some damn lying game. And I totally didn't.

With a huff I rose up and told Ivan to go to Tartarus until I had dressed up and he turned all red as if I had just snapped the greatest insult ever. "Do you, Elea, even know what _is_ Tartarus?"

I took out my black hoodie and top, glaring at Ivan, trying to give him the message I wasn't the damn interested - but he just smiled in this evil way. "I bet you'll know it at last in the Underworld. Though I don't really _believe_ you have the guts to travel there..."

I knew Ivan was playing his game, but it still was kinda insulting, because I hated when someone said I didn't have the cursed _guts_ to do something - it sounded so icky and stupid and I wasn't even sure was it a damn word. And it frustrated me pretty much, so I decided to take a little distance from the guy for a minute. _"You know, sometimes people spend too much time together?"_ Were my last words before I left the cabin, and I suddenly knew I had to go find Gracie, though she'd sleep until midday like my mum always did. Speaking of my mum, I started to really feel like I needed to use the Iris connection or something. The last time I had spoken to my mum was in a dream and I didn't know was it reality or not. I didn't even have a damn _body_ in it. But as I started thinking more clearly, I knew I missed my father - not my godly father but coke-dude, Harlee Wood, this guy that was like a best friend to me. I though didn't just know what to say if I'd talk to him through the Iris connection. Firstly, I bet he didn't even know anything about this god-thing between me and my mother, because my mum was the type she never told anything to anyone. After he'd see this window with his long-lost daughter appear into the bathroom as he's doing his business he'd probably get the cops or something or then he'd just try to strangle me through the freakin' hologram, whatever. Or then he'd start bawling in this heart-breaking way and drinking coke again - I'd start missing my home so much I couldn't leave on this damn quest. In another way... well, I'd maybe get motivation of it. But in the end I decided to phone nobody, yet. I could maybe find a telephone booth or something from a city somewhere on our way, and call one of them. It'd be probably easier than speaking through this moving picture because then I wouldn't see the way my father's eyes watered and my mother tried to make me some coffee. My father's eyes always got watery - when he laughed, when he really was sad... he was a pretty sensitive person. For some reason I then had this feeling, that my real father, no matter was he Zeus or Hades... well, he'd be a little more rough.

I kinda thought that in this time of the morning no-one would be awake in the Hephaestus cabin, so I just knocked the door hoping that Gracie would open it - and that everyone else there would be asleep. And thank gods, Gracie it was, but as I stepped in she was whispering and telling me I shouldn't probably say anything. All was because this Xavir boy who was just about my age was still somehow awake - he sat near the door on a rocking chair he had probably built himself and sharpened a knife - looking in a freaky way just like May Everdale from the Hermes cabin, but he seemed to be somehow drooping - at moments he stared straight at me with his dark eyes and then the lids just closed and he started snoring very loudly - he was almost as freaky as the girl who slept with her eyes open from the same place as May, Marié and everyone else.

"Why are you here?" Gracie spoke pretty damn quietly, dragging me to this 2 square meter shack which was actually just a wall and another wall - and a _toilet_. I bet it was a bathroom built by the people from the cabin, but thank gods it had a door and walls and everything, so no-one could hear or see us. There was a sink there too, but water seemed to drip out of the pipes. There was no mirror, though - maybe the Hephaestus kids hated their own appearance. "So, why are you here?" Gracie repeated, and I saw she was still in her pyjamas - I must've woken the poor girl up.

"I just thought... well... do you have a needle?"

"...A needle? What? Do you mean a pin?"

I bit my lips, embarrassed. "No. Okay, don't think of this in a way like I was a _narc _or something, but... you know these drug-needles? The ones all doctors use? To give these… medicines to people?"

Gracie smiled in a weird, crooked way. "I know what you are talking about. Please don't tell me more."

I sorta gave off a little laugh and decided to continue, just to clarify things a little. "I had this demigod-dream, like a real demigod-dream, and in it I was on some cliff and I wore this odd watch... well, it was first a watch, but then it was a needle again. It seemed like it was my _weapon_ or something."

"Why you need something like that? You have the bronze dagger, is something wrong with it?"

Yes, I did. But I had lost it somewhere into my room and never used it, just because I was uncomfortable holding something like that. So I told the thing to Gracie, and she told me to get one _drug-needle_ from the Hermes cabin - she'd start on working with the morph-watch. The girl must've been crazy - we'd leave off to this quest today, and she just with a two-hour sleep starts building off a thing I could only dream of. After I had sneaked into the Hermes cabin (it was never really locked) and stolen one needle from the medicine locker right next to the door and taken it to Gracie, she looked at it in a mysterious way and then smiled. "One morph-watch it is!" And then I the damn got out of there - I didn't want to be surprised by one of Zacharias' stupid cameras again.

You'll never guess how damn fast of a builder Gracie was. Or how skilled. I had only gotten into the Hades cabin where Ivan was playing with some sword of his - it was crazy - he had just this long, dark blade (it wasn't as long as Titus', but long anyway) which looked somehow very light, as if it would be made out of nothing and he swung it through the air straight to my direction, so as I entered the cabin he freaked the damn out of me.

"Watch out where you walk, daughter of Hades! I'm gonna poke you in the eye with this if you won't be careful."

I thought that Ivan saying that would frustrate me and I'd like strangle him or something as evil, but I just looked at his blade, fascinated by the way how well he could handle it, how good was his grip. I remembered also kinda hazily something someone had told me about that blade. Maybe it was one of the cursed satyrs, but I didn't care - the main thing was just the freakin' material that blade was made of. Again, without me even considering my words ahead I asked Ivan something: "Is that Stygian iron?"

Ivan shook his head quickly, but I didn't know was it an answer to my question or just a shudder. "What did you say? Oh, this?" He lifted the blade with care, as if every single particle of the air was precious - "A Stygian blade? No. Everyone always asks that! The answer is no, again. I got this as a legacy. It's my mothers. It was forged at night time in the dark river of Alpheus - the river half in the Underworld, half up here. If this would be Stygian, I couldn't even use it. I'd be able to _raise the dead_ or something."

I shuddered. I had thought of it before; now I could remember - Chiron suggested a Stygian weapon for me. What if I actually was a child of Hades? I could either kill... or then bring back to life. How cool was that? But I just had this terrible feeling I'd only bring the slowly approaching apocalypse closer or something. I should never be given too much responsibility.

"I saw you getting off to Gracie's. You had your evil revenge on Zacharias, or what?"

"I'd say it's a secret," I turned my back on Ivan. "Let's change the subject. You ready?"

"I've already packed."

I couldn't think of what to take with me, so Ivan helped me, though I would've liked to get by on my own. The time I had put the drachmas in my pocket and tied my knife to this belt Ivan borrowed me, Gracie already came. "It's her," Ivan guessed, and he guessed even right. It had been only for like a freakin' thirty minutes - and there she already was, holding this golden watch in her hands, a little same type as the gadgets she had on. She had gotten dressed too, and didn't any more look tired. She wore this berry-coloured top with lacing on it and a light brown leather jacket, her ripped capris and all her morphing jewels. Now I could finally count them - she had one on her neck, two in her wrists and one in her ankle. "Here's your watch, Elea!" She told me, and I thanked the gods it wasn't a drug-needle then. But Gracie was Gracie - and she kept on going. "You see that button there? The golden one? Look, Elea, when I press _this,_ it's morphing into the drug-needle you need..."

Ivan looked stunned. _"Drug-needle?_ Hey, Elea, start showing me those arms."

I looked at Gracie pleadingly, but she just laughed, putting the watch around my left wrist, as she knew I was left-handed. "When it's in needle-state, you just got to press that button again, it's in the side then. It'll wrap around your wrist then again. You should test it or something. I don't yet know how well it works."

It was totally crazy. That was the same needle I had stolen from the Hermes cabin, that's what I could tell after pressing the button, but I had no idea how Gracie had made it morph that way. It was just like... magic. "You got help from the Hecate cabin?" I asked her, whispering, but she just told me she did it all on her own. She had totally gone mad. If I'd blow this cabin up, she'd build it back in an hour. Ivan looked kinda amused too, but it seemed like he had seen even more and bigger stuff built by the Hephaestus cabin. I had never thought of Gracie as powerful, but now as I kept on morphing my new weapon from needle-state to watch-state, I finally got that his father actually was an Olympian. The clock had even the damn _hands_ on it and everything! I usually didn't go hugging people around, I wasn't that intimate of a person, but this time I just had to. That weapon was probably the greatest thing I had ever got as a present. "What's in this?" I asked, but Gracie disappointed me a little as she told there was nothing yet - maybe, because we here at the camp weren't allowed to keep stuff like poison hidden in our cabins. "Well, strike that through a snake or something, you'll get the poison for free then."

Then Gracie winked her eye and came into our cabin, helping me to pack my stuff. She herself had this small leather purse over her shoulder and she told us it was completely empty, except for the money she had there, a couple of tools to build stuff (she needed tools and everything, so she wasn't totally McGyver) and pastilles. She told us she always had a few with her; that's why her breath scented so good. As she kept on eating those pastilles (strawberry!!!) I started to look for my lipbalm – until I remembered I had left it home. Well, I kinda had gotten rid of my addiction with it and my lips didn't even feel so crappy any more. But what could I take with me then? I didn't have a purse, a packsack, nothing, only the pockets in my hoodie and they didn't even have zippers in them. But maybe I wouldn't even need lots of stuff with me. I had enough money and everything, and it was sorta the only thing I needed – I wouldn't starve, have to sleep outside or anything like that.

Well, that was what I thought that moment. Well… before leaving off to nowhere from Camp Half-blood, I actually had no idea of what the damn was a quest. I must've thought it was a trip to some amusement park or something.

After Marié had woken up (yes, it was pretty late then) and the Ares kids had tried to kill us for interrupting their peace the night before and we had eaten our last supper at the food pavilion, we finally left off to see Chiron. We followed that old pony all the way from our dinner to the main building, us five, and now at last we got to tell Chiron about the prophecy. He didn't know it yet, but almost all of the camp knew that someone was leaving on a quest again. Chiron though... he didn't seem pretty happy. Like he would be anxious of would we survive or not. "Thank gods it is not the Great Prophecy!" Chiron sighed, after I had told the words of the prophecy to him. I finally could remember them. "It would be a living hell here already."

"Why is the Great Prophecy such a big fuss? Like it'd tell us about the end of the world or something."

"Well well, Elea," Chiron laughed, scanning our faces like it would be the last time he'd see us. I bet he trusted me like a 0%. That's why I told Ivan was leading the quest - there wasn't like my name written on the prophecy or anything, so it could actually mean anyone of us. "All the prophecies tell about the up-coming end. They are told for us to prevent the disaster, leave the dead numbers to as low as possible. All of the great prophecies mention the apocalypse, but it doesn't have to happen. And what does your prophecy tell? That it is not made in vain - if Zeus and Hades would attack each other and refuse to give up by the quarrel of your fatherhood, it would have been mentioned in the prophecy. You shall make success. You will find out your father in no time."

And then Chiron smiled at Pruce, who didn't look at the speaker but felt though that someone was watching him. "I believe, that Pruce shall find out something too. What do you say? Are you ready to go?"

"You speak of everything as it would be so _easy,"_ Ivan commented. I think he must've still thought about his last quest with Viquel. "How can you believe so? We will travel to the Underworld, and someone will leave us on this quest. It will be dangerous, no matter what you say."

"Oh, Ivan!" Chiron seemed to gaze in the distances. He wore again the same woolen shirt he had on the day he landed to Canada with his neon-white chopper. "You are right, this will not be easy. Dangers do await you. But success you shall make. Do not take this as a too light-hearted quest, but do not lose your heart. You will need it in the Underworld. Where you will began?"

Just as I thought everything was all right and we'd already be off to somewhere with a taxi or something, Ivan raised his gaze. The next words he said made Chiron react a way I didn't wish for.

"We will head to Death Harbor."

I was still totally puzzled of what in the damn world was this Death Harbour, but as Chiron started to describe it (I didn't think he meant it, he just seemed to talk to himself) something came to my mind. Suddenly I started to think about the dream I had seen just this same morning - the one where I had first time seen the _drug-needle._ Chiron gazed still at the distances, and it was so freaky; he looked very much like Pruce. I guess Ivan and Chiron both knew what was this place they seemed to fear so, and I might've feared it too if I knew what it was. The name though... and the sight in the dream, only those two things scared the damn out of me, and suddenly I felt pretty unwilling to leave. But how could we turn back now? We had already locked our cabin doors and everything.

"Ivan, I trust you as a leader on this quest. If you will start with Death Harbour, you must be careful. The lost souls traveling there might forget their existence. The Los Angeles passage-"

_"I know what I am doing,_ Chiron," Ivan told in a pretty loud voice, and now I knew what did he mean by the way he didn't like teachers. Or elderly people, either. It was because they never understood what the other meant and they didn't give any time to explain your own ideas. It was just like now - Chiron started to offer Ivan different choices, choices he probably wouldn't ever wish to take. And I believe Chiron could sense how Ivan felt of him, because he didn't continue any more. "Bless you," He quickly scanned us all through, and then he shuddered and stepped back doing this strange sign, and for a second I thought he was doing the sign of the cross in the air or something. It brought something into my mind, but I couldn't ask him more. We were already leaving, and as we left the camp area and many, many faces stared at us with faces I couldn't read. I could also notice how all of us took our weapons out - Ivan held his dark sword he had taken from his scabbard, Gracie's left bracelet morphed into a lighter, narrower sword, Marié took out her golden flute. Instinctively I also took my dagger out, but it didn't somehow feel right to me. Then my gaze wandered off to Pruce, who stood there, looking pretty much like an outsider and very, very vulnerable. So I turned off to him and asked: "Can you use a dagger?"

The same time as I gave my dagger away to Pruce I also gave the belt I wore with it. Pruce tied it around himself, bringing a little colour to his all-black clothes. He took the bronze dagger from its scabbard, his fingers lingering on its sharp blade. He looked oddly fascinated, which was a little scary to me. Like he was a born murderer.

After we were all armed, Ivan scanned the whole area sniffing the air like a freakin' dog, and after he had been that way for like five minutes a smile spread on his face. "There are no monsters here. Yet," He raised his dark eyebrows.

"Whew," I wiped off the sweat off my forehead. I noticed already now how it was getting colder - autumn was almost there. I saw how inside the camp borders it looked like forever summer and people still walked around with their t-shirts on, but outside it was pretty much different. I wondered how in the world could Pruce do with only a black tee on, but he didn't seem to be cold at all. I had a hoodie, thank gods, Ivan wore his long, white blouse, Gracie had her leather jacket and Marié wore a woolen shirt with a warm-coloured Mexican skirt I hadn't seen on her before. And still we seemed to be much more freezing than Pruce. He sorta freaked us all out. As my gaze wandered at the endless forest with a couple of trees with already orange leaves, I felt like I was so very lost. A sudden feeling of awful home-sickness and the will to go back to safety inside the camp borders took over me, so strong that I almost felt like crying, but goodness, Ivan was a great leader. He already knew our destination and everything. The only thing that really bugged me out that moment was that I knew the name and look of the place, but nothing else. It was pretty damn frustrating.

"How in this damn world do we get to Death Harbour?"

"We need a passage," Ivan began. "But I myself cannot find one. There are many of them, but usually normal eyes cannot see them. They must be found by feeling. Someone with a good knowledge of the woods must lead us."

"You don't mean _the hunters?"_ Marié suddenly began, in this awfully desperate tone. Ivan sighed, nodding slowly at Marié.

"I believe I do."


	12. THE GIRL SCOUTS GET GREEDY

**PART 4: PRESENT**

THE GIRL SCOUTS GET GREEDY

"Please!" This awful scream filled the chilly air. "Why the hunters?"

"I don't see what a problem you have with them," Ivan looked strangely at Marié, who was screaming like the hunters would kill her the next time she met them. "We're getting to their headquarters. They're at Oregon."

"The hunters have _headquarters?"_ My eyes widened.

"The hunters have _headquarters_ at _Oregon?"_ Gracie added.

Ivan laughed. He had an odd laugh - it sounded like the cheeping of some bird. But Marié didn't laugh - she had calmed down a little, but now... well, she looked somehow frustrated. "I knew that," I heard her mumble, and even I had wondered the way she seemed to fear the hunters, but suddenly something came to my mind. It had kinda been forgotten, because it was one of the first things Marié had told me about herself, but now it was there again in my mind, as clearly as she had told it to me like five minutes ago.

I remembered Marié telling me the story about how she had came to the camp. Well, obviously she wasn't kidnapped by a freakin' chopper or anything. She had come to the camp led by her half-blooded friend, Doris, a Demeter kid. I had always kinda thought that the Demeter kids were close to nature and everything, but I still, becoming _so close_ with it that someone actually abandons guys and ageing older, decides to stay forever looking like a twelve-year old and goes sleeping in the woods with some forest pixies all eternity... Well I had kinda considered that maybe being a hunter would be cool, but as I now thought of it I was puzzled - I must've been drunk the minute I actually considered joining them. Okay, it'd be nice to prevent all those wrinkles and nasty sicknesses you get as you grow older, but it still seemed a little crappy of a fate. And somehow I felt a little sad for Marié that she had thought about it. We would probably never have met.

Or was it only Marié's friend, Doris, who tempted Marié to thinking about it? She had joined herself and was probably even now chasing some monster from Shrek 5 that came out last year. They looked so awfully real, that I could've even believed that they lived there somewhere.

"Let's just say... that I hold a grudge on them. Maybe when you'll meet them, you'll also know."

Ivan raised his eyebrows (again!!!) looking at Marié sorta empathically, but then he was again his leader-self. "Well, now it's your chance to solve things out. You come here too, Pruce. You're probably the only one on this quest who's not going to die."

That kinda seemed to wake Pruce up. He had been in this sorta trance, just looking at the sharp blade of my old dagger, so damn fascinated. Now that we were again safely in a bunch, Ivan's gaze wandered to the end of this narrow path that seemed to come out of nowhere to this camp, like he was waiting some car actually to drive on it. "So, which one you choose? Shall we walk or call the Gray siblings?"

Okay. The moment we left the camp I had totally felt like not walking, because fear took over me pretty much after we had a plan done and everything, a plan with a lot of holes, should I say. And after Ivan shouted something pretty odd in _ancient Greek_ and this cab knit out of pure smoke appeared where we stood, we didn't totally feel alright. "They should invent more ways to get to the camp," Ivan sighed as he opened the back door letting all us girls in first, and already then the space was getting a little narrow there. "They got about _ten_ ways to get to the Underworld, even to _Olympus..._ And people don't even visit those places as often as they visit the camp, so why the Hades we have to choose between this and walking?"

I shrugged my shoulders, but thought about it. "Did you just make that all up? Way too many visit the Underworld, I guess right now there's another 100 lost souls travel-"

"I said people, Elea," Ivan closed the door with a thud. "People."

* * *

That cab should've been a little bigger. We had only one big seat at the back, three seatbelts and _five_ passengers - and three crazy siblings as the drivers. Okay, I can't actually remember about anything of that journey because those siblings were totally mad (if I wasn't deaf, they totally were arguing about some eye they had lost) and the ride sure was bumpy. Even more bumpy than our helicopter ride. I guess they drove in speeds that would've lit a normal car's gasoline tank on fire, but this was made of _smoke_ and everything. During there was chaos going on the front seat, the back seat felt very uncomfortable. Marié sat so close to the door that I almost feared she'd get pushed towards it so hard it'd open and she'd fall off if we'd move even an inch, because she had no space at all. We had let Pruce sit next to Marié, because Ivan and I had to sit behind the driver (due we were the only people knowing what our destination was.) Gracie sat all in the middle in this baby seat and was the only one of us who had her own seatbelt (I shared one with Ivan and Pruce shared his with Marié) but it wasn't comfortable for her either, because she was squished from the both directions and kept on repeating 'ow!' as the taxi made quick turns and she seemed to sit in the poorest position ever. I was next to her, and almost fell to the floor a few times, because the seat of the driver kept on wagging into all directions right in front of me and Ivan... well, he could move somehow, but it must've been horrible to him anyway, because he had to scream the driving directions over all that racket the siblings in the front seat made. I remembered that once as Ivan commented on how the car almost fell over this cursed _bridge_ and drove over a pitfall so that it felt like the damn floor could pull away any time, the sibling in the middle who had the name of some crazy bug turned to us with her empty eyes and screamed: "Life is a ride, boy! Get used to it!"

That totally silenced Ivan up. The siblings argued the whole damn trip and it took almost an hour. Well, that must've been because they drove in crazy speeds, but I was kinda thankful of it - I couldn't have sat there another minute. Then they almost robbed us as we arrived to Oregon, because it was so far away from the camp, but we had money and everything. _"Life is a ride!"_ I heard the same old granny screaming as they let us out with our sore muscles and all that crap, and after they had driven away we couldn't do anything else than be silent for a while.

"I'll never, _ever_ again take a cab," Marié commented, and I nodded.

"I'd use Chiron's chopper or something."

"Chiron brought you with a _chopper?"_ Marié asked. So, I hadn't even told it to her yet. But maybe it was about time, and suddenly I started thinking about the odd sign Chiron had made as he said us goodbye, because it felt very familiar. The events of the night I had arrived to the camp came to my mind and now I could see it - I had for some odd reason done the exactly same sign, even though I had never even seen anyone do it. So I raised my gaze to meet Marié's own, and as we started following Ivan to the way he was walking I told her the story, all up to the part where the giants came trying to eat me.

"You know that sign Chiron made before we left? The one that is kinda like a cross."

"Oh, that?" Now even Ivan turned around. I was amazed by the way he could walk without even looking where he was heading to. "It's an ancient sign used to chase evil away. Well... I didn't come with the chopper to camp, but a few have done it, like you. For example that one girl who lives in the Aphrodite cabin... her name was Williams or something. She lived in Canada too - I bet the same monsters came after her."

I could remember the name also. "So... like, if I'd do it now, Chiron would come?"

"No, no," Ivan shook his head. "If someone has done it before, it doesn't affect. The first time someone does it without understanding, it's like a call for help. So, if you start playing with it, you do it for nothing, because no-one will answer."

I swallowed, but was also kinda thankful - I now knew that I hadn't been crazy or something that night. Now I knew about the stories of all of our group, how they had came here. Ivan was chased by the Cyclops, Gracie saw the dream, Marié followed Doris. And Pruce... he was brought there.

Before I could even notice, we were already in the woods. I had never been in Oregon, but I had seen a several films made in there - and in all of them the whole place was full of smart people who go to fine schools and the whole place is like full of forests. But there wasn't as much forest as in Canada, that was for sure. The half of that country was like total wilderness.

"Remember, you all, as you speak to the hunters, never start asking them about three things; about their age, about their relationships to boys, or about how do they look. They're quite accurate about the things they may answer to-"

"Oh, gods, Ivan!" Marié huffed, staring as the skies if like the _Hand of Zeus_ or something would rescue her. "I know what the hunters are like, I the damn even almost joined them! _You're_ the one _we_ should be telling all that stuff, you're a GUY..."

"What about that?" Ivan asked. "I and Viquel met the hunters thrice on our last voyage. And as I already told you, this is the time for you and them to solve your relationships."

Ivan said it in the way like she was talking about Marié and the hunters starting to go through their _ex list_ or something. Marié seemed to frustrate even more the more we continued walking deeper into the woods - she didn't remember the location of the hunter headquarters, but I bet she could sense that we were approaching the place. I was sorta puzzled about the fact that there could be any headquarters down here middle of the forest. The word headquarters reminded me always of this office building of about 20 storeys or something like that, a modern, huge building anyway. And as we finally were there, I wasn't really surprised. It would've been odd to have a very eye-catching building right here, where mortals shouldn't ever be heading.

"So, that's it," Ivan spoke as we finally came to a huge opening in the woods - the trees were there sorta taller than in other places and everything seemed to echo there. Right in the middle of the opening there stood this wooden building with many towers, so it looked like a fort made by the greatest nature-lovers ever. As Marié saw what we saw too, she let out a deep sigh, but I think she was sorta relieved too. It wouldn't take long til' we would already find out the next stop - the passage to Death Harbour; though I couldn't still understand what it was.

"They can help us," Ivan continued, and this time he sounded even more determined than before. "But to call them... we must prove that we are benevolent. Sigh, we have no satyrs with us... but you, Marié, can you play the camp tune on your flute?"

Marié didn't turn to Ivan in a flash, like she was frozen gazing to the headquarters of the hunters. "What? The camp song?"

Gracie's eyes moved off from Marié to Ivan, and I didn't know whom she was asking her next question. "Which year?"  
Oh, gosh. The camp had its own song and everything! Even a new song for each year. I sorta stepped back and looked behind us – Pruce stood there like 10 foot away and held my former dagger in his hands, like he was in his own world, and as Ivan, Gracie and Marié discussed with each other I felt very... odd. Me and Pruce, the Outsiders.

"I know only two songs," Marié turned to Ivan, smoothing her flute with her fingers. "Which shall I play?"  
Ivan rolled his eyes, probably trying to tell Marié that he couldn't possibly know either of them, because he was on a quest last year, and didn't know the Camp song for that. But Gracie and Pruce had been there and everything, so Pruce requested the song of last year – it must've been nice or something. Then Marié nodded her head and gulped, she must've been anxious summoning the hunters that way. After standing there quiet for a minute, she finally took a deep breath and closed some lid on her flute, maybe to prevent the snakes from coming, and started playing.

I had heard Marié play once before, but then she had only played one tune at the time as it was only practice with Fredrick. I knew she wasn't as good as Fredrick, but it must've been the song that enchanted me – it told a story so magical even I could feel being in, though I didn't even know what the song was about. But it brought things into my mind – things like the ocean, seagulls... and through it storms, skies, clouds and booming thunder, some kind of battle. It wasn't a long tune, but sounded somehow menacing, and Marié looked a little worried after playing it as if she thought it made us seem like we came for a fight.

"That's the _Glory of the Brothers!" _I heard Gracie whisper, as if the song had took her breath. "It's so _epic!"_

It was so silent for a while, and I started to feel worried the way Marié did. "I should've played _Music of the Universe. _It's the song for year -13, I wasn't on the Camp then, but Fredrick taught it to me – it's dedicated to the Apollo cabin, it would've been much more..."

Then Marié was stopped, as we had to duck when a dozen of arrows flew right past our heads – and as they didn't hit their goal, they hit the tall spruces and pines around us, sticking into their trunks like a bee's sting into human flesh. "...Calm," Marié finished her sentence, holding her hands on her head as if she feared another wave of arrows would flow over her head. We all stood there ducked about a minute, no-one dared to raise their view. But then a clear command pierced the air, and Ivan was called by his name.

"Is that you?" A female voice asked. She sounded sorta masculine, too, and she had a slightly sarcastic tone in her voice. But she was also pretty young, that's what I could tell. "Ivan? That's you?"

She must've been young. Only teens spoke in such way as she did. I finally dared to raise my gaze – but I still kept my hands on my head.

"The Hunters!" I heard Ivan reply. "Oh, gracious. Why did you attack us that way?"  
"My sisters only greet you that way, old friend."

Then Ivan laughed, and dared to stand in his full height – and as Pruce and Gracie followed, I stood up too – Marié only remained there small and unnoticed, behind us all. Now I could see every one of the hunters; they surrounded us in a half arch and held their celestial bronze bows and arrows by their side, and the sight of it disturbed me. They were very young, from ages eight to probably fourteen, but were such good archers. They all must've been Apollo kids or something. And their leader, a slim, tall girl from the middle of the arch, in ripped jeans and the T-shirt of some band I had never heard of, smiled in a warm way and flashed the gaze of her sharp, blue eyes from Pruce to me. I shuddered when her eyes met mine – they were so unbelievably blue, but not cold, just... electric. She had also freckles as Gracie did and looking at her made me inhale for breath – she looked so unbelievably familiar.

The leader narrowed her eyes. Her lids were dark, lined with strong black eyeliner, and it made her look pretty evil – not _evil _like evil, but that kind of evil that she'd for sure kick your butt. "Is that... Marié there, ducking behind you? Daughter of Hermes? I guess I'll always remember you, because your name's got that stupid _apostrophe."_

Marié turned red, but she looked pretty nice when she blushed – I always was red as some freakin' carrot, but Marié had this sorta rosy blush. Her blue eyes seemed to glow of some emotion – it wasn't fear, but something else; could it have been shame?

"Don't fear, daughter of Hermes. Artemis isn't here. She never stays here, at the headquarters. In fact, I don't even know where she is right now, probably hunting some terrifying monster again." Then the leader yawned, blinking her electric blue eyes twice, and laying her hands on her hips. I could notice she had painted her nails black – she looked pretty gothpunk, should I say.

"So, daughter of Hermes. I can see you brought your flute, played even the _Glory of the Brothers _to call us. And as Artemis isn't here, I, as her lieutenant am responsible of..." the leader yawned again, as if she would be bored of what she was doing. Well, she pretty much looked like she'd like to listen to some goth music in a dark, narrow room instead of roaming here in the forest. "Whatever. You need us, just tell us to what. Or should Xenia read your mind?"

One of the young hunters stepped up, a probably 12-year old girl with this scene-kind of hair dyed all shocking blue, so that she looked pretty emo. She even had a lollipop charm dangling from her neck, a freakin' lollipop! I kinda snickered, and Marié poked me with her elbow, whispering.

"She's Xenia, a daughter of Apollo!" She hissed from beneath her teeth. "She can read minds."

I must've turned pretty pale then. But thank gods Marié answered the leader before Xenia could creep into my dirty mind. "Lieutenant Thalia, we are here to seek a passage. I am here also to ask for remedy – if Artemis may see my soul as impossible to join your crew, I will believe her."

Marié's speech sounded formal, yes, but it wasn't that what caught my attention. What was the lieutenant's (oh, what a word monster!) name again? It wasn't pretty usual of a name, or anything.

"A passage?" Thalia nodded, just about to accept Marié's apology, but that moment my knees gave in. I didn't know was it because she had such shocking of an eye colour – or just because I got so tired, but it freaked me out anyway. I never fainted, collapsed or showed physical weakness. I felt pretty damn pathetic. But then I knew it must've been the other reason. I was... I was...

"What's wrong with her?" Thalia's eyes widened as Marié bended over me to touch my forehead. I was...

My eyes met the electric blue, and I shuddered. I was staring at Thalia Grace, the lieutenant of Artemis – the Daughter of Zeus, the warrior in the Half-Blood heroic war. Should I've asked her for an autograph or something? Oh, Zeus. She was totally real and everything. Then Xenia turned to Thalia, with curiously bright, amber eyes. She seemed to whisper something into her ear, and her mouth twisted to a thin smile. "Nice reaction, child of the Underworld. I believe your name is Eleanor Collins?"

Curses. How did Thalia know? If I remembered right, Xenia had just read my thoughts. Did I speak of myself as _Eleanor_ inside my head?!

"We're here after a prophecy read to her. But I am the leader of their quest."

Ivan spoke for the first time then. Thalia turned instantly to him, and I could see that she was thinking – she had also a problem with remembering names.

"You're Ivan, Ivan Shore? It hasn't been a long time... but your friend isn't here. The one in the rainbow dress, she had a name like a burlesque stripper."

Ivan bit his lips. Okay, this Thalia sure said what she was thinking. "She isn't here... nor anywhere. I am here to seek revenge."

The expression on Thalia's face was unreadable, but it seemed as if her eyes had lightened a little. "The Cyclops... I already know, what do you mean by a _passage. _But a mission like that doesn't come free, you know. Ever thought of where we Hunters got our supplies? The expensive bows and arrows we use? There's 52 of us, you knew that? We're not bums or anything."

Ivan rolled his eyes, and suddenly I had a suspicion of what Thalia must've been talking about. Did she... ask for a payment?

"We didn't have to pay with Viquel," Ivan raised his dark eyebrows. "But well, if this gets expensive, I'd like to know _how _well will you do this mission. How long does it take? Who of you knows this earth well enough to lead us?"  
"Well, I don't," Thalia yawned again, moving her gaze to the skies. "My kingdom's up there. My father's, exactly. But after she got that younger daughter she's never cared of me..."

I didn't know what Thalia sounded like – was she bitter? But I knew she was speaking of Erin, and for some reason I had a feeling Erin had better luck than Thalia. The introduction film was already pretty hazy in my memories, but from that I could somehow remember that Zeus turned Thalia into a cursed _pine._

"How much is it?" I heard Ivan ask. I saw him digging his black packsack, and finally he got out the thing he needed – some random... notebook.

"I can't say yet. It depends on our leader... how many daughters of Demeter had we here again? No daughter of Persephone... a Hades kid would be useful here."

I saw Gracie opening her mouth as if she was to say something, but I silenced her with my gaze – although there was a possibility that I was one, I had no idea of where a cursed _passage _would be. Marié acted also pretty odd there – she wasn't trying to make me her leader or anything, but she sorta twitched, like someone was poking her constantly. Then I noticed where Marié was looking – into the green eyes of a young girl in a pink hoodie and converses the same colour, white trousers and pretty hair. It was orange, as mine, but the colour was so much more intensive, as if she was dying it.

Thalia seemed to notice her gaze too. "Who's that you're staring at? Doris, daughter of Demeter?"

Marié nodded in an awkward way – she was sorta trembling. The corner of her eye jerked in an odd way, as if there was some invisible hook dragging her lid up from there. Thalia turned around in the blink of an eye, snapping her fingers in a loud, sharp way. As I now could see her from the close, the look-alike with Erin was obvious. They both had pitch-black, messy hair and the same, electric eyes, but Erin's skin was kinda paler, and she lacked the freckles. They also had definitely the different chin. Erin's was sorta more... cute. Thalia looked a little tougher.

Now I, Ivan, Gracie, Marié, and Thalia with her Hunter Doris stood pretty close to each other. I couldn't even remember Pruce that moment, it must've been because he was so damn far away – like in the other side of the forest opening, playing with his little dagger.

"Doris," Marié breathed, looking her former friend straight to the eyes. "You look... young."  
"I don't age," Doris spoke. She sounded very little, and I couldn't tell her age. "And you look... short. I thought you'd have grown a little as you're not immortal."

I was pretty amused. Marié didn't even sound insulted though Doris spoke of her in that way – I'd have knocked her down already if I was Marié. But she just smiled there, her cotton-like hair bouncing in the cool breeze.

"I borrow a couple of heels from the Aphrodite cabin every now and then..." Marié blushed again – the same rosy, pretty colour. "But I'm kinda happy the way I am. Taller people fall over when riding a chariot. I rode with Elea, and we came third!"  
"You even beat the Demeter cabin?"  
"They didn't take part," Marié smirked, and it came silent, but the silence wasn't abrupt. It was somehow... accepting. Two friends saw themselves after a long time – they needed silence, time when there would be no words to be said aloud.

"You know, Elea is a daughter of Hades? So we sort of... need your help. Do you know a passage? Not the Los Angeles one."

Doris' eyes glowed bright and wide, as if she was frightened. "...Death Harbor?" She only managed to say. Each and everyone of us nodded; Ivan still with his _notebook _in his hands.

"They change their place," Doris continued. "I don't know where one is currently, but I may gather the energy of the earth to lead us to the place. It works a little like a compass."

Doris waved her pretty, long locks from one side to other. "The journey might be long, you know."  
"...and expensive," Thalia added.

"It may take for days. Don't you know any faster way to travel?"  
"One, that you will pay," Thalia snapped.

Ivan rolled his eyes, again. I snickered as I thought of what must've been going in his mind. _Thalia, you greedy bastard!_

"Well, what do you say for 24 drachmae? Our goal is 24 hours – one drachma per hour. I cannot pay such a price right now, but maybe after this quest..."

Then Ivan ripped a page out of his notebook and wrote Thalia a cursed _cheque. _He must've had a chequebook in his hands, that's what it was. "Keep checking on it. I hope Zeus ain't gonna kill me for a little slow-up in the payment. I'm kinda short right now."

Thalia nodded with a smirk on her face, folding the cheque in double and putting it into her pocket. If I'd be her, I would accept only cash. I didn't really trust on Ivan paying the money to anyone _ever._

"It's about time," Thalia sounded pretty relieved. "Take that outsider pal of yours, let's start moving. You wanna run or what?"  
"I have a better idea," Ivan stated, staring into somewhere in the distance. "You can't take all of your hunters with you, but I bet I can handle about... eight passengers. Me, you, Elea, Marié, Gracie, Pruce, Xenia, Doris. You okay with that?"  
Thalia's eyes narrowed, but then she seemed to understand what Ivan was talking about. She nodded as a mark of agreement, and she must've known Ivan's next sentence before he even said it aloud.

"This might not work so well in such brightness... let me dim the lights first."

And as Ivan closed his eyes, the world seemed to blacken as his sight went dark. I didn't understand was it only an illusion, but suddenly it seemed like a cloudy day, not anymore sunny. Xenia's breath turned suddenly very shallow, as if what Ivan had done had been somehow unforgivable.

"We will shadow travel. Hold my hand."

Okay, to be honest, I had no idea how each and everyone of us should have taken hold of Ivan's _hand. _Thalia and Doris did that before anyone else could, and so Gracie and Marié took hold of his arm – Xenia took hold of his waist (okay, it looked seriously _weird_) and Pruce of his neck, like he was strangling him. But what was left for me to grab? His cursed _arse?_

In the end I took hold of his legs, but then Mister Exact tells us, surprise! That we wouldn't have to take hold of _him – _holding someone who was in touch with him was enough. As my hands were already lowering to grab his... you-know-what, everyone conjoined their hands, so that they stood in this sorta row, Thalia and Doris still the closest to Ivan, because they were sorta the leaders. I hated the fact I was holding only the hand of Marié – it was as if my other side was completely vulnerable now that no-one stood there to hold me. But thank gods Ivan understood my importance on this certain mission, and let me take hold of Xenia's hand quite near Thalia. I could've taken hold of Doris, but then I'd be in between her and Marié. So, now I was between the emo-girl with her plucked eyebrows and Gracie. I could tell Gracie was nervous – her hand was warm and all sweaty, as if she'd feared that we'd travel in so awesome speeds, that we'd crash into some thorn bush and she'd bleed dry or something. Xenia's hand was all cold and somehow oddly smooth, as if it was porcelain. The temperature difference made me shudder.

"We're gonna go fast, so Doris, you got good reflexes? Good. Just tell me where to go – keep on telling the instructions, direction, speed, everything. And the most important thing of all – this is for _everyone – _do NOT let go."

"Do let go, yes!" Gracie smiled, waving the hands of me and Pruce oddly backwards, so that she damn nearly broke our muscles or something. She was strong! Gracie had maybe meant it to be funny as she just let go and stepped a few steps ahead, smiling, but no-one else smiled.

"Well, sorry that I'm half deaf!" Gracie glared at us, especially at Thalia, probably because she had such a mean look. Then Gracie took hold of me again, with her crazy, powerful grip. That might've even hurt a little.

But Gracie wasn't the only one unwilling to stay in connection with Ivan. Doris, the daughter of Demeter, did almost the same as Gracie, except she didn't look so stupid and she had a damn _reason – _she bended down to her knees to the earth, placing her hands down facing the ground, and her long, orange hair covered her face like a curtain. She just was there for a second, as if she was just very, very tired, but then something happened. It was as a silent whisper would have run through the air. It touched every grass, stone, tree... moved forward from Doris' fingertips, like the wind which caught the grass and moved it like hair combed backwards. A minty scent filled the air and Doris closed her eyes, but rose from the ground as soon as she had bended down, facing us with a puzzling expression.

"It's going to be a long journey. We must hurry, the passage will change its spot again at midnight. We have eight hours time to travel."

"I might be able to do it," Ivan considered. "Give me that hand of yours. Everyone, take a grip like Gracie's. (Gracie turned all red!) Close your eyes, if you fear. It might help you."

I saw Xenia doing it, but I decided to keep mine open. I couldn't miss something like that.

"Let's roll."

* * *

It was a little like the beginning of a chariot race. First this awful suspense filled your insides growing and growing like you were a damn balloon, and then it all exploded in once as everything began so fast the moment it happened would be impossible to notice. But this time I wasn't on a chariot, fearing I would trip over or fall, because I couldn't feel anything of those. I had felt the jerk as Ivan had started moving, but then it all turned hazy, and suddenly I noticed we were flying.

Or something as crazy. The scenery flew past us, colours couldn't be recognised anymore – there was only grey, black, green, a combination of those all. I couldn't hear anything, I just _was _there; knowing that I was holding someone's hand, but I didn't know anymore whose it was. I couldn't see who was next to me – only a flash of Gracie's reddish hair.

"What are you doing?" I managed to yell, but Ivan didn't answer – I couldn't see him, really nothing was what I saw. But I heard Gracie squealing, as if she already feared, and next to me Xenia was trembling or something – I couldn't really get it, because we were moving all the time. "What are we doing?" I yelled again, and suddenly Ivan seemed to slow down, because I could see his face.

"We shadow travel," his voice carried through the mush of colours as odd and somehow echoing. "We sort of... move with the shadows. We follow them."  
"Our distance grows large every second from my father," I heard Xenia speak next to me. "It weakens my strength."  
"You won't be needing that now," Ivan glared at her. "In the Underworld there is never day. And there we shall make our way."

Xenia seemed to turn paler and paler as we made our way, and I, as everyone else, was a little puzzled of what did Ivan mean by this shadow travel. So, we followed the shadows. But how it was possible for _anyone _to follow them? The shadows moved all the time... so Ivan must've been totally Hercules.

"Isn't only a child of the Underworld able to shadow travel?" I heard Gracie ask next to me. "You're... a son of Nyx."  
"Isn't only a child of Hades able to sleep in the Hades cabin?" Ivan slowed his speed down again. I started suddenly to think about how did we look like to others – or had we entered some mysterious afterworld where there was no-one else. "I've been able to do both. Hades doesn't forbid anyone doing those things and Nyx is an Underworld goddess enough to be honored by Hades. But my shadow travel isn't complete, because we aren't totally in the realm of the spirits. I cannot see the dead."

Then Ivan turned to me, as if I had to finish his sentence.

"What?" I still had to yell, because we moved so fast that the wind blew in our ears blocking out everything else. "So, you expect me seeing some dead guys around here? First of all, you should first _slow down a little –_"

I hadn't even believed that Ivan would do it, but he did. For some reason though, the moment we stopped I felt it was for something else. Ivan's expression was sheer terror, and though it felt to me like we had been traveling only for a while, Ivan stood there as if he would move no more. I glared around me, waiting, as if some dead guy would pop up as I acted so paranoid.

"What is it?" I heard Thalia ask. I had for some reason completely forgotten that she was there still; she had been dead silent during our voyage.

But Ivan wasn't the one speaking. A female voice, still her hands conjoined with Ivan's, filled the air; and I could recognise it as Doris, but she sounded somehow odd. Like... she was possessed with something. Like Rachel Elizabeth Dare.

"I do... sense it here," she began, in this curiously soft tone, "But for some reason I cannot see it. As if... it would not be here. Like it was hidden."

Ivan's gaze scanned the row through, from Pruce to Marié. "Hold hands, still!" He commanded, closing his eyes for a second. It was awfully dark then. It was impossible for me to tell where we were. But it looked like... a forest. Not the same forest where the Hunter headquarters were, though, there the trees looked older and somehow different. There was an odd scent in the air.

"Are we in the spirit realm?" I heard Gracie squeal right next to me. Xenia on my right side was pale as a statue, as expressionless too. It must have been because of what she had said – we were so far away from the sun.

"Not completely," Ivan whispered. "I believe... that we just entered the normal world. But this is a silent place; the passages always are in places like this. I am only puzzled about..."

I knew Ivan kept on speaking, but from that on I just shut my ears or something like it. I seemed to be staring somewhere in the distance – as I could see the woods, I could also see a lake faraway from us. My eyes locked to the waves... yes, the waves. It didn't even seem strange at first. Water had waves, didn't it? But these waves... they were different. They were too tall.

And then lightning struck a tree a mile from us, so that Thalia shuddered – she let go of Ivan's hands and jumped back like a ten feet. Her expression was sheer terror, and next Pruce was the frightened one. He could see the waves, too. I bet he could also hear them. They were so far away, but his gaze seemed to notice everything; how the tree struck with lightning collapsed into the water of the lake, so that the surface trembled and waves the height of apartment buildings flushed the shore. Pruce let go and ran.


	13. NEMESIS TAKES REVENGE ON ME

**PART 5: FEAR**

NEMESIS TAKES REVENGE ON ME

The past times I had been thinking a lot.

I had been writing this sorta list inside my head. You know the kind of questions like _if the end of the world came, who would you stay alive with? _Or _who'd you shipwreck with? _Well, I had made a list of people important to me.

For now, it had nine names in it: Marié, Gracie, Ivan, Pruce, Erin, Chiron, Ash Collins, Harlee Wood, Sofia. All my friends from the camp and Chiron... well, because he had sorta changed my life in a cool... and death dangerous way. And of course my parents, and Sofia, because she had been one of my best friends before this all. I had never included my actual father in that list, maybe, because he had abandoned me and it didn't sound like a very nice thing to do.

But when time came, one name more was added to that list – even two; but two names were wiped out too; the day when I sorta... died.

* * *

That minute I knew I was going to die.

I knew also, that Marié, Gracie, Ivan, Pruce... everyone I loved - they wouldn't survive without a loss. They would be torn apart - not by my death, but the prophecy would eventually lead them to their own ways - into different directions. As well, I knew Pruce would be the first to go. I saw it as he let go of Gracie's hand with such force, that Gracie fell to her knees - the boy sure was strong. Gracie didn't get wounded or anything, but she was shocked, like everyone of us. That wasn't what we expected. Pruce was damn fast of a runner; he was gone in seconds, and as I asked Gracie of how far she was, she couldn't tell; she had admit and everything that she had a bad sight and she couldn't measure distances by eye, but neither could I this time. How could Pruce...

"We have to go after him!" I heard Marié yell. She sounded like there was some sort of connection between her and Pruce, but I wasn't surprised. They had lived in the same cabin for like... two years.

"How?" Gracie asked. She was still on her knees, rubbing them as if to cancel bleeding. "My stamina sucks. I'd start panting already at those trees there."

It must've been Gracie's bad sight, or then it was just her stamina, because the trees she was pointing at stood like as close to us as Thalia was behind. Marié cast a desperate glance at me, but I couldn't possibly run after Pruce, though I was a fast runner and everything. "Can we shadow travel?" Marié pleaded, turning at Ivan, but he shook his head. "I may mislead us. It is too shady here. He'll slow down eventually. That lake is miles away."

But as far as our eyes could see, Pruce still kept on running. How did he manage? As he approached his goal, his speed even seemed to _rise_ - that wasn't possible.

For a second I had already forgotten we weren't there alone. I heard a horrible sob behind me, and that minute I remembered Thalia was there too - and she seemed to lay unconscious right behind us, Xenia in her neon-blue hair bended over her, and Doris the Hunter standing behind Marié, so that I hadn't noticed her before.

"Doris, can you still sense the passage?" Ivan checked, staring still, unmoving, at Pruce, who was now only an oddly-glowing spot in the horizon. I heard Doris answer: "Stronger than before," and saw then Ivan nodding, but suddenly I started to think about my words before... _Oddly-glowing?_

"Umm... am I the only one, or does Pruce... glow?"

No-one answered, and from the corner of my eye I spot Marié, who with a little resistance on her face bended over Thalia too, laying her hands on the forehead of the Leader of the Hunters. "I'm kinda busy right here now!" Her voice carried on the empty hills with an odd echo in it. Gracie narrowed her eyes trying to spot Pruce, but she couldn't probably see that far.

"Ivan?" I sounded already a little frustrated. I was a little surprised that I wasn't even swearing.

"Pruce'll never stop. He is the son of Poseidon. He'll only get stronger near water! And he's glowing freakin' blue!"

There it came again.

"Elea, he is not the son of Poseidon," Ivan was almost whispering. Gods, he was as unmovable as a damn _statue._ "Sons of Poseidon glow _green,_ not cyan."

I raised my eyebrows, clutching my fists. Ivan had a damn vocabulary of shades of colours. But that was right - Pruce was totally blue, I could see it already from there, and the hill sure was dark. As if he was lit with some cursed inner lantern.

"I think... it is time to move," Ivan continued, in this oddly robotic tune, and then he turned straight at me, so that I almost collapsed. The moon had revealed itself on the pitch-black night sky, and Ivan looked absolutely... stunning. I didn't have a feeling like I was in love with him or I had to start drooling or something, but I just was... stunned, because I didn't know mortals could be so beautiful. The whole scene was almost _cliché_ (again one of the words I learnt of Erin) - I just staring at Ivan's moonlit face when the cicadas sung and all around us and the world was burning; like we were inside some freakin' soap bubble which protected us from everything. And the dying earth looked only beautiful to our eyes.

"Elea?" Marié's voice behind me seemed to come from somewhere far away. "Ivan?"

Ivan turned around, breaking me from this enchantment – I shrugged my head as I noticed where I was. It was very… disturbing. I didn't want to drool for Ivan or anything, he was one of the biggest bastards I've ever met, but a friend. A beautiful friend. It's… very disturbing.

"She isn't waking up," Marié's hands were trembling as she removed them from Thalia's forehead and buried her face in her palm. "I cannot heal her."

"Why?" Gracie turned around in a flash. Now all of us had bended over Thalia, except Ivan, who was still looking after Pruce. _He'll slow down eventually. _I just prayed he'd be right… if I'd only know who I had to pray to.

"We're partially in the realm of the spirits," Ivan didn't even turn to us as speaking. "Your demigod abilities won't work here."

"They won't?" Marié's eyes widened. She was totally trembling, and it felt odd to me. She had like hated these hunters just a while ago, but now she was shaking as a cursed coffee pan now that their leader had fallen unconscious. "What should I then do? Do you expect me to-"

"You don't have to start reviving her. But you must know, Marié – though you are the daughter of Hermes, _you are not a god_ – you cannot always trust on your semi-godly powers, because on us demigods they do fail us at times. My night-sight has failed me, Doris cannot see the passage, I bet Gracie has even broken up something sometimes. We are not invulnerable, perfect or almighty. We must accept it, because it all is of our lack of immortality."

"Well yeah, but your cat-eyes isn't even anything useful!" Marié yelled, so that the word _useful _rang in the air in an echo for too long. "I can help people. Do you know how frustrating…"  
Ivan's jaw almost dropped. "Oh, please, Marié! You sound like mom."  
"Nyx speaks like that?" I grinned, and my face distorted in this weird way.

"I meant Michaela," Ivan continued, in his awfully bored tune. "The actress."

And just as I was about to answer him something damn stupid and obvious, Thalia took a shivering breath and opened her electric blue eyes with a cough. "This has happened before," were her first words, and Xenia bended over her striking Marié and Doris aside as if they were nothing.

"Except this time you weren't turned into a pine," Xenia babbled in her oddly absent tone. "We may leave now, mistress. The wanderers have found their passage."  
"But… the lightning," Thalia continued scratching her head. Her tone of voice and everything in her – she suddenly seemed a very different person. Now she was the puzzled one, as before she had been the one answering all questions. Her blue eyes were curiously light.

"It was only a thunderstorm," Xenia continued her sweet-talk. She totally sounded much more mum than Ivan. Soon she'd start offering Thalia coffee or something. In a zebra-striped mug.

"It wasn't," Thalia coughed again, rising to her feet and pushing Xenia aside, as the girl tried to offer Thalia support. "Did you see the…"

"The waves?" The words came so fast that there was no break between them at all. Thalia swallowed and nodded her head, gazing into the distance. She seemed to notice Pruce too.

"He has an awfully strong aura," Thalia looked stunned. "But he is not the son of Poseidon. Their aura is green."  
Ivan, who stood right next to Thalia, smirked and looked pretty self-confident, but I and the others bended over this place where Thalia used to lay were all pretty puzzled. Xenia probably the most. If there wasn't something wrong with my eyes, I think I could _see _her aura – it was though pretty different than Pruce's. It probably showed only because she was frustrated or so full of questions, but it still was there. Not strong at all, but still visible; a dim golden glow around her, a glow that came from within, not actually _around_ her but somehow on her skin. It was though pretty much more weaker than Pruce's – it was visible without larger struggling but didn't blaze and light up everything in a half a mile radius like Pruce's cyan light. So I rose up and turned to Thalia, whose eyes were lit by reflections of the full moon, her freckled face, which reminded me of both Gracie and her sister Erin.

"What did you say about that aura?"  
"His aura is unnaturally strong. Only very powerful demigods have an aura like that. Even… even I don't have one. And I am the daughter of the ruler of the Universe."

It kinda amused me. I knew the thing about Zeus and everything, but still now that I thought about it, I looked Thalia in all a different light. His father… he had control of everything. Every tree and every person and every star and every galaxy out there. Like the one looking like a sombrero. And he just said they weren't real because people would start fearing him because he had _so _much power, so much I couldn't ever imagine handling. Thinking of him that way made him really feel like God. Like _god _God. The dude. The one the Canadian nuns spoke about on our religion lessons. I though didn't remember about anything of them – I must've been just drawing eyes or something then.

"Did you need to know more?" Thalia now turned to me, noticing how I had gone silent. I started thinking again. The aura-thing brought me something in mind – like someone would have said something about me having a weak aura. How was that possible? I was… the daughter of Hades.

"About the auras… someone once mentioned about the strength of my aura. How could… how could that person see my aura? Is that possible?"  
"It is," Thalia commented. "But you must be a powerful demigod to do that. Normal demigods spot auras only of the most powerful and here, in the realm of the spirits. When you walk through a passage, you will spot everyone's aura. Here it may not be possible. I can see right now… mine, Pruce's of course, Xenia's and Gracie's. Doris' is dim."  
"What colour are they?"

Thalia laughed, scratching her head again. She had a pretty cold laugh, if I thought about it. It was sorta sarcastic. "What colour? It determines on the parent… Xenia's for example is gold. Her father is the god of the sun."  
"I know that," I narrowed my eyes. "I can see it."  
"That is a good start," I heard Thalia say to me, but then she turned in a flash to the direction Pruce had ran into – because his glow had gone dim. He had… disappeared. I bet Thalia had noticed it too. Her electric eyes seemed to thunder and Ivan next to us narrowed his eyes. His eyeballs glowed in a weird colour, this sorta shade of yellow, which made his eyes look like a cat's. Now I understood Marié's expression she said before: cat-eyes.

"Can you see him?" I asked, but didn't turn to Ivan, so I wouldn't start gasping or anything again. The moon wasn't lit then, though, so his face didn't remind me of marble. He was like damn _Edward Cullen!_

"I can."

It didn't surprise me. He was a son of Nyx and everything, so he probably saw every creature in the woods and everything on this pitch-black field. It was oddly dark; no outdoor lights or anything, we were totally in the wilderness. But it looked like there had been people there before. Or ghosts, or something. I really didn't know what to expect as we were halfway in the realm of the spirits.

Then I saw Ivan starting to sway oddly, as he took a step forward to see better. He didn't blink his eyes at all, and it was pretty damn scary – he could like keep unblinking them for three minutes. "Ivan, umm..." I murmured, but he didn't have time to answer. This large KABOOM filled the air, like someone had blown a factory up. I hope it wasn't Coke-dude's. And suddenly we were blinded by this crazy, bright light, - it made me wanting to have revenge on the Hemera kids. Right here and right now.

"Wow!" I heard Gracie's voice, and she tumbled over colliding into Marié so that they practically began this huge chain reaction. Doris seemed to stay pretty well on her feet though the earth had just shaken so that even I almost fell and rolled the whole hill down, but Ivan let me took hold of him before.

"What was that?" Gracie continued, and as Ivan replied he sounded in the same time so serious and so determined that we couldn't help listening to him.

"Now it is time," he said, and his eyes seemed to flash. "We cannot hide anymore. We cannot wait. Even I am not stupid enough to do it. Take hold."

This time I was the one to grab Ivan's hand. And in the blink of an eye, we shadow travelled again.

But it took only like a second. As I opened my eyes again I could see we were on the same hills, but the trees were different and I could hear... music. It totally was music, real music, this kind of pop you listen to when you're very drunk and just not in the mood for kickass heavy metal. But we couldn't hear the song right; I was sure I recognised the artist, but the song was all distorted; I couldn't recognise any words, only this UFO noise coming from somewhere and the beat which filled the air. They must've used a pretty big sub-woofer and everything. But the thing was; suddenly I knew where the music came from – we were standing on the shore of a lake, which reflected the moonlight and the surface trembled as the sound of music hovered over it. There was an old log cabin right on the other shore, and inside we could see bright lights and shadows moving inside. A party. A damn party with coca cola! – or something else, which didn't interest me really that moment.

But before I got to start begging Ivan to shadow travel over the water so that I could fill my insides with sweet caffeine, I remembered what place this was. The place was the same lake Pruce had ran to, the same I saw thirty-feet waves on, the same the cursed _spruce_ fell into. The damn it was.

Though all these facts, I didn't see any tree, any waves or anyone; just the log cabin which played _Britney Spears _and was filled with drunken idiots. Somehow it didn't feel possible... just because we were halfway in the realm of the spirits and I thought only dead people were there – and those party-animals down there seemed pretty much alive. It wasn't a Zombie party or anything. They'd already smelled our brains. Though we didn't even probably have any.

And the second and most important thing; a boy glowing freakin' cyan had just ran here out of nowhere, and even drunken idiots weren't stupid enough to think this glow-guy wasn't from the Pride-parade or anything. This cool awesome yippee glowing boy wasn't though the only thing the drunken idiots should fear. Shouldn't their cabin already have been flushed away by those waves, didn't they hear the explosion and scream of terror? Or were they actually only undead zombies, guys who didn't freak out if the whole _world _would explode? I turned to Ivan in confusion.

"This _should _be the same lake," Ivan whispered. I wondered why he spoke so quietly – like he feared the water would carry his mere whisper over to the zombies. "And it _is _the same lake. But why I do not see anything?"  
"And why do I see a bunch of drunken zombie idiots drinking and gambling and... you-know-what? I can see everything, you know."  
"Elea, ever heard of the expression _I can see you, but you can't see me?_"

I nodded my head. As my gaze wandered to Gracie and the others who just stared at the dark woods as if there was no lit cabin there at all, my blood froze. If those guys sure were... dead, then I, as a daughter of Hades could _see_ them...

"Eh?"

Ivan rolled his eyes and told it again. Well, the Hades thing was a good guess, but if Ivan could see them too... I wasn't the only one there.

"So... they can't see us? Or... did they see anything of this?"  
"I guess they heard it, but not as loud as we did. They must've thought there was some giant fish jumping over there or something. We should thank Dionysus of all that alcohol those people are drinking right now – without it they'd probably go mad."  
"Aren't they already?" Gracie interrupted, and now I could understand she also saw those folk.

"But are they... dead?" I continued. "We're in the realm of spirits."

"Partially," Ivan corrected. "Those are still alive. They just can't see any of the half-blood stuff. And though they'd see Pruce running here glowing all blue the mist would turn him into some bunch of fireflies or something. I'm just wondering... where _is _he?"

And then we heard another crash which shook the earth, and the water made waves again, but they weren't tall anymore – thank gods. The party guys didn't seem to notice yet anything, it was all crazy. They just kept on partying – I think I saw some guy swinging his shirt around there like a lasso.

The first earthquake lasted for about a second and didn't even feel like anything, but when the second came it pretty much scared the damn out of us; we almost feared like the earth's gonna crack up into half from the middle. And from it a pretty strange and crazy chain of events started; at first I was sure of Gracie tumbling down. She would've survived of it with only a bruise, but unfortunately she stood all next to the water, so that after the second earthquake came Gracie fell forward and neither Marié or Doris who both stood next to her had time to rise her up. Gracie could swim and everything and Marié was already about to start dragging her up, when we heard this awful scream from Gracie's mouth and the air was filled with this odd electricity. And before we could tell, Gracie had lost her consciousness – just because the water had been struck by lightning.

"Don't touch her!" Ivan commanded, as Marié's hand was reaching to her friend. "You'll get shocked too!"  
"So you just expect me to leave Gracie there? In the water?"  
Then Ivan shuddered like he had heard something. "Wait."

And then Gracie's eyes flew open, but the first thing we did notice in her was not her eyes, but her hair. It was all frizzy as she had been shocked by lightning.

"Where am I?"  
"We sorta guessed you'd ask that," Ivan replied. "Get out of the water."

Gracie didn't hesitate at all. As Marié started asking her questions of was she okay or not, something odd happened – we heard this splashing noise like someone was pulling the toilet, and suddenly the surface of the water started to rise. Waves came out of nothing, appearing from the centre of the lake, and as we all backed up it rose to form a funnel cloud, and thunder struck it again spreading the electricity all over the lake, and now we were looking at a tornado made out of water and thunder.

"Only a child of Zeus can control lightning that way," Thalia spoke from behind us. "May it be..."

And then we heard a loud yell – it echoed all over and everything. For some reason each of us recognised the yeller.

"Pruce."

"You're a freak!" I heard someone scream, and the voice was mysteriously familiar. It carried to my ears as somehow offbeat, the water must've affected somehow to it. "You shouldn't even _exist!"_

"But I do!" Another voice answered, and this time we were dead silent; now we understood why we hadn't heard the voices before – we had been stupid enough to talk over it. I could recognise this second speaker as Pruce, but who was he talking to?

"Then you will regret that it happened!"

And then the earth rumbled again, and this time we all held each other so that no-one would fall into the electric lake by accident. Ivan, who was in lead of the group, winced and jerked backwards, so that the whole group of people was about to fall down, and Gracie, who still was a little dizzy of her little dip in the water instinctively took out her shield – it morphed from the golden ringlet around her left arm. I noticed she had snapped her fingers before doing it, but it was so incredibly fast it didn't really catch my attention. The funnel cloud there had been spinning all the time, but the lightning which struck around it hadn't looked dangerous, until now.

As Pruce seemed to oppose to what he had just heard; like him starting to regret his existence, the lightning spinning around the funnel just got crazy - it started whipping all around, moving first only around the centre, but then growing large and shooting the lightning all over - it hit the trees and the surface of the lake, and from it we could see the reflection on the flaming wood. "What's going on?" I heard Gracie ask in terror and then my gaze turned to Thalia. I couldn't read her expression at all; it was a mix of fear, disbelief and some odd determination, I could really see she was thinking. She must've had a pretty damn hard headache.

"What are you doing?" Gracie continued her asking, but now she had turned at Thalia, all terror over her already horrid-looking face. "It looks like..."

"I am trying to control the lightning," Thalia spoke, but she sounded exhausted, she really must've been gnashing her teeth there. "It's not right. It's unnatural."

The lightning got soon pretty dangerously close to us. One bolt passed right over Marié's head, and if she would've been any taller, she'd already been struck dead. Thalia was in the middle of an endless struggle and we didn't know what we could do. Sort of I wanted that funnel thing go away, just move to Pruce and leave us alone, but the minute I thought about it I felt like an awful sadist - he was my freakin' _friend_ and everything!

I saw Ivan let Thalia take support of him, Xenia and Doris pulling right to their mistress to help her struggle, but then Xenia made an awful mistake. She had taken her bow and arrow, and I guess she just couldn't stand what was happening anymore, so she stretched her bow and shot. It was a great hit - it flew straight in the cursed funnel, but by that she just revealed us to _the someone_ moving that awful thing. The lightning got sharper that second and I saw Thalia's aura strengthening slowly as she concentrated on blocking the bolts of electricity. It had been barely visible to me before, but now I could sure see it; it glowed so blue, just like her eyes, lighting up the night with its electric light. For a second the lightning still seemed to concentrate on Pruce, but about a thirty seconds after Xenia shooting her arrow one huge bolt came right into our direction scaring the damn out of us all - it was hard to describe. I hadn't never, ever seen lightning that close, and it was very frightening - the bolt was as thick as a lamppost and a million degrees hot. I made the ancient sign to chase evil away, but it totally couldn't protect us now. I just saw Thalia act so fast she must've had better reflexes than I had ever seen on any athletic. As the lightning moved towards her in the speed of light, she took out this shield which was probably the freakiest in the damn universe; it looked like it had someone's freakin' head imprinted on it. It was like those scary Japanese movies like _The Grudge_ - I hated that part where it came out of the crazy _closet._ But it must've been the best shield I've ever seen; or then Thalia was just... unbelievably powerful.

The second the lightning struck her shield she should've been dead - shields didn't protect from lightning, they didn't work like a cursed _mirror_ or something. But she just stood there like her feet were glued to the ground, and later on she told me she wore these shoes all footballers wear; the ones with the spikes in the bottom and everything. Thalia's aura was by then so strong it almost blinded me, though it didn't spread in such wide radius as Pruce's. She looked godly, think about that! As well, her hair pointed in every direction; it was so frizzy I had never seen that in my whole _life_. She let out this crazy yell which echoed in an awfully powerful way and the lightning which had struck her shield spread into thousands, no, millions of little bolts, which discharged through the air like an army of snakes. They didn't set anything on fire, thank gods, but they lit up the whole night, like the best lightshow in the whole universe. It must've been visible up to freakin' _space._ If that whole place even existed.

The tiniest bolts flew all around, frizzing in the ground and zapping like everyone of us, but the hugest, the dangerous ones flung right back from Thalia's shield to the funnel. They were different kinds of lightning, and as Thalia's bolts struck the evil ones they sort of tangled up, so that it looked like a couple of electric hands were doing some arm wrestling right there. It looked freaky but somehow so beautiful; it remained in my mind forever.

Thalia was stronger, I could see it right then. The arm-wrestle was over only in a few seconds and as there was no thunder to light up the night anymore, it looked awfully dark; everything seemed to normalise soon, now that we saw the party cabin again - they just kept on partying like nothing had even happened. The only thing about it was that I saw smoke all around and it _stank_ there, really - it was just like after fireworks. Thalia's hair, too... it was like an extreme case of bed-head.

No-one said anything, but I'm sure everyone was as amused as I was. In a normal solution I'd have taken distance of Thalia; all that power'd freak me out so that I'd fear getting hurt even myself, but this time my gaze was only full of astonishment and admiration, and for a second I already thought we were safe, _invincible_ or something, but as I noticed the huge funnel cloud was still spinning where it used to be I swallowed. So, it wasn't over yet.

In fact, it was only the beginning.

We all were leaning against each other, our eyes closed and breath quick. Only Thalia stood there, right on the edge of the lake, with her creepy shield and odd hairdo. "That was..." I heard Gracie gasping from between her breath, "So epic."

Ivan let out this whistle - he _always_ was whistling, in every single occasion! And I guess Thalia maybe blushed, but we didn't see it as she stood her back facing our direction. "Stay quiet," she commanded still gnashing her teeth - "It's not over yet."

And then the water carried a voice over the lake. It moved on the water so that it sounded distorted to our ears as we heard it, but I could still recognise the words.

"HOW DARE..." A voice began, quiet at first, but growing more menacing with every syllable. Each of us was eagerly waiting to hear the rest, but as everyone of us was only listening, we were vulnerable to the dangers coming out of other directions, and then a new bolt of lightning struck us over the water - even Thalia didn't have enough strength to defend against it.

Now we lay there our eyes closed, hearing nothing - dead or asleep.

The first thing I knew was that I heard a voice.

"...YOU."

I thought I was shaking my head, but everything I did and my every reaction seemed somehow forced. I guess I opened my eyes then, but the edges of the picture were all black, so that I only saw a part of the whole scenery.

The _you _still kept on echoing in the air, and I stood up unbelievably fast; I could move lightly as a feather and in this way that was somehow familiar to me; if I decided to stand up, I stood up, but the act itself was sort of cut out - I was already standing the second it came to my mind. It felt as if my body weighed nothing, but controlling it was hard. My thoughts seemed to oddly wander; there was something in my head, but I just couldn't think what it was, and it made my concentration skills impossible; _I had absolutely no idea what I should do._

As I looked at the lake spreading in front of me, I couldn't see my own reflection in it. For some reason I though knew there was nothing unnatural in it, and with a hazy gaze I decided to take the steps towards the voice. I was already there as I thought of the action, and this part of the lake was somehow unknown to me. I just heard the echo stronger there, and everywhere around me it was somehow very light - only the edges of my picture were dark, hazy and blurry as the lens of an old camera.

"You cannot help your friend."

I turned my head so fast the orange hair I had on a ponytail brushed my cheek, but I still couldn't see where the voice would come from.

Then I realised I hadn't looked nowhere but forward. My gaze turned towards the earth in the speed of thought, and I could see a familiar figure on the ground. He was on his knees, trembling and all cold, but still conscious; and though I wasn't sure what had happened to him, I knew he should've already been dead.

I formed his name on my lips, but no sound came out; and the echo spoke to me again.

"You must flee, Eleanor Collins."

Somehow those words seemed to sharpen my senses. Nothing irritated me more than someone speaking in such a way - using words like '_flee' _instead of run, this vocabulary I couldn't even understand - and using my complete name, which I hated more than I had ever felt disgust on.

Again my soundless lips tried to speak the words on my mind, but I could only move, not speak. The wrong things were possible there. It wasn't a complete reality.

This was my dream.

The figure on the ground tried to rise, but I could see that as he tried to rise himself, he only could rise the water up - to only increase the strength of a spinning funnel in the middle of a dark lake, reflecting nothing, a mirror without another side.

My silent lips again formed words I wanted to tell the figure on the ground, but I was all mute, and there was nothing I could do. And how could I run? I was fast as light, but I could never escape – because I didn't know the way. My whole world spun around that huge thundering funnel.

"You don't?" The voice continued, and I shuddered as I saw the figure on the ground turning around. His face was pale as a ghosts, I had never seen anything like that. He reached out to me with his watery fingers – droplets falling from his fingertips.

"Elea," the figure spoke. "I cannot…"

I moved my lips to answer, but still, no voice came out. The person spinning the funnel though answered me as my thoughts would just have been read. "You cannot help, Eleanor Collins. Your voice, yourself, your whole reality, spins around _me. _You cannot help, Eleanor Collins, you cannot help Pruce. You are forgetting everything, you are starting to fade. I cannot see your _aura _anymore. You are _losing everything."_

The words flowed through my mind, each and every syllable imprinting into my thoughts like they were burned there with an iron brander. Was this voice only repeating my whole damn name to irritate me? The words of my whole reality spinning around that voice… they gave me the cold vibes, what did they _mean?_ Like I would lose myself by losing _him._

I knew the voice was a _he _the same second he had told me the name of my helpless friend, and how he spoke of my _aura. _I guess in a normal dream with the stupid me I would've just thought that anyone could see my aura right now, I was in the realm of the spirits and everything.

But only one person in the world actually _spoke _of my aura. I had forgotten him completely, I hadn't even remembered his name until now.

"I am the air you breathe, your senses, your soul, Eleanor Collins. You cannot possibly lose me."

As he said those words I just wanted to yell him to stop – he spoke to me like a _lover. _What was he talking about? The only thing I actually knew was that I couldn't possibly live in the same universe with him anymore.

"Show yourself!" My lips formed the words with such force, that I almost regret I had said them – and was amused, because I could speak again.

Now the edges of my dream seemed to clearen, as water spread on them like the blackness was only dust in the corner of my eye, and I saw the lake dividing in two so that the waters bended themselves into the shape of a bowl, and from the other side of the shore, where the funnel was spinning, a clear figure approached. As he moved the droplets of water sprinkled around him like in a giant fountain, he looked like he was water-skiing. But he didn't even have anything to walk on – only the surface of the water.

As he moved close to me the sprinkling got even stronger and my eyes went all watery – he stared into my eyes with a deep, stormy gaze, and his sea green, almost turquoise eyes seemed mysteriously familiar. Now I knew who else I had seen owning the same kind of eyes; the one I had abandoned, my friend Pruce, who seemed to weaken with every step my nemesis moved closer to me.

"Forget him, Eleanor Collins," his voice sounded still as powerful, though he was hovering over the water almost ten feet from me. His pitch-black, thick hair shaped like the waves moved with the wind almost hypnotically, and the water beneath his feet obeyed him as if he would have created it by himself.

As I saw how the menacing funnel still spun beneath him only as a shadow and he stared at me with his face showing no emotion, my gaze moved to Pruce, who took shivering breaths, forming my name on his lips, but unable to do more. I was still fast as light, and the way my eyes moved from person to person must've looked pretty mysterious. But one thing was sure to me; Titus was the only person in the world I had ever hated.

In a serious way. I actually could hate _anything – _I hated Marié because she got more glory than me from the chariot races, I hated Gracie for her being so clumsy, I hated Ivan because he was as huge of a bastard as Apollo.

But never, ever I had shown hatred like I did towards Titus.

"You are struggling, Eleanor Collins."  
Something seemed to snap inside my head. "Stop calling me with that name."  
"If you please. You cannot help your friend, Elea."

Another snap. One thing which made me hate people was how they first annoyed me so much, and then just stopped it, just like that; and then they started repeating some stuff I _already_ knew.

"Who do you think you are?" My words even seemed fast, now that I could control my dream perfectly. "You're a madman, that's who you are. You only destroy, nothing else. No, now I know… you, Titus, are just a _kid."_

Titus tilted his head. The act made my blood freeze, because he had copied it from Pruce – the one person whose source of life he was draining away, like a freakin' vampire sucking someone's blood.

"I am the son of Poseidon."

And then I was dragged into deep water.


	14. I BECOME BRAINWASHED

**PART 5: FEAR**

I BECOME BRAINWASHED

Titus was unbelievably strong.

I couldn't believe I was still _alive_. Titus had, the second he had called himself the son of Poseidon, grabbed hold of me and pulled me underwater, but still, I could see and hear, though there was only water around me.

And I didn't know what to do. I wasn't really used to water. Maybe, because Virgo, my star sign, was an earth sign. I could swim, but I knew already then I could never beat Titus, the son of the god of the sea, in a battle _underwater. _I just wished I'd have a white flag or something with me.

Through my mind flowed the words _let me breathe! _And forgetting that everything I thought happened already then – I yelled what I was thinking, and gasped as noticing I could breathe underwater. I heard Titus laugh, and it brought me the cold vibes – he never laughed, and only once in my life I had seen him smile. It was impossible for me to tell what he was thinking right now, but thank gods he spoke his thoughts out loud.

Then I felt him letting go of me and moving to face me – there was a very little distance beneath us, and it disturbed me. "I am the reason you breathe," Titus spoke, and I felt like ripping his throat open because of it – I didn't understand!

"You cannot leave, Elea. We are too deep in the water – you can't swim to the surface without your air running out; and if you could, the funnel would suck you in. I am controlling this, I am controlling your whole world."

Gods, I hated how he spoke in that way! I tried to reach out for my weapon – the drug-needle Gracie had made for me, but suddenly I remembered there was nothing in it; I couldn't defend against Titus.

"You are killing Pruce," I hissed, noticing, how odd my voice sounded underwater. It was sorta fascinating. "You're doing everything to become him, because you know you can never beat him."  
"Why should I think something like that?" Titus spoke, and he again had this British accent in his voice. It was sorta relieving to hear him say something else than _hello. _"I am the superior of _every _descendant of the big three _ever _existed. I am _godly_, Elea."

I moved backwards, gnashing my teeth. Oh gods, I just hoped Poseidon, Titus' father, would get into his senses! This wasn't a true son of him; though I didn't even know much of the god-stuff, one thing that I knew for sure was that no half-blood should _ever_ call themselves a god.

"What have you done to Erin?" The thought slipped through my lips, though I regret it afterwards. Now that I said her name out loud, everything I had gone through with her came back to my mind; and I could perfectly remember, how Titus had made me lose my consciousness; by claiming I wasn't a child of the big three.

"How blind can you be? Don't you see, she works with me – she sent each and every bolt of lightning after you… and it all went well, until that punky Thalia girl came in the way…"

It sorta amused me, Titus using a word like _punky. _"You've brainwashed her."  
"I never did," Titus seemed to swim further from me, and I felt relieved. It though got very cold then. "She did it to _me. _The moment she saved me on the hill of Camp Half-blood, I knew she was the reason I became so proud; and could recognise the aura of every half-blood existed, know how worthy are they. And Pruce… he is not a son of Poseidon."  
I narrowed my eyes. The next words I had already expected.

"And you… are not a daughter of Zeus."

Then Titus took again hold of me, and I suddenly remembered where we were – in the electric water, and Titus hadn't lied with the fact of him being the only reason I was alive; underwater. The protecting bubble he had created popped the same second we crossed the surface, but still I couldn't see anything – only water.

I still could breathe, and for some reason my hair rose up as if it would've been rubbed with a freakin' balloon.

And then my gaze wandered to Titus feet, and my knees felt like giving in; Titus didn't stand on any surface, he only hovered over the water, the water which was all around us, and his hair seemed to electricise too – and he was the only reason I didn't fall down.

I wanted to say him to let go of me, but as I saw how there was nothing beneath my legs, I knew I never could; this was an endless nightmare, and we were spinning inside Titus' funnel vortex, surrounded by blazing hot lightning and ice cold water.

"How are you doing this?" I asked, as I thought of all the things Titus was doing in the same time – without even looking exhausted. He didn't smile, he actually showed no emotion, but his endlessly deep eyes glowed with such power and so dark, I already knew the answer.

"I am draining the force of your friend, Pruce. I have control over the waters, I am stronger than my _heroic _half-brother… Without him I couldn't carry you, and without him you would be dead."  
"Without him you wouldn't keep me here," I whispered. "Without him I would have stayed where I was, and never come here."

"So blame _him."_

Suddenly I realised all the logic there was in what Titus had said. Without Pruce coming… nothing of this would have happened. We would be in Death Harbour already.

"And who is Pruce?" Titus spoke, surprisingly. He seemed to somehow savour the words on his tongue, people who did that always freaked me out. "Let's just say… he is a freak. His existence is a disgrace to _us worthier."_

I didn't know who Titus meant with the '_us worthier', _but it sure didn't sound very nice. But I knew he wasn't talking of me, because I could _never _be worthy to his eyes – nor him to mine.

"That is why you hate me so?" I began, realizing suddenly how everything was coming together. "Because I am not worthy, and everyone thinks so?"  
"Because you get glory of deeds you have not done, and everyone is filled with dark lies – even yourself, Elea."

I was so confused then. I knew it was the reason, but what did it mean? I was already about 100% sure Zeus wasn't my father, but still… Titus spoke in a way, like neither of them would be my parent. But even I could realise it; I had always hated people getting thanked of the wrong things, and now I should blame myself; because I understood everything Titus had done against me.

"I couldn't possibly hate you, Elea."

I shuddered, closing my eyes. Here it came – an even bigger insult to drop my self-esteem to the good ol' zero.

"I couldn't possibly _ever _hate you, Elea. I have never, ever wanted anyone more than I do want you. And I hate you… because for you to love me, I have to hurt you so."

And then his grip of my arms got tighter, and I felt a jerk within as he raised his hands to take hold of my shoulders – I feared so for him letting me go.

"Do not..." I gasped, finding out it was hard for me to speak again; the edges of the picture seemed to blur again, but I saw nothing else than Titus.

Titus tilted his head, and suddenly it got so cold, as the water spinning around us started moving even faster, thicker and closer to us, as Titus for a second concentrated only in keeping the water from touching us, loosened his grip, and fearing I raised my hands taking hold of him – but as the water got only closer to us, my only way of preventing it touching me was to only move further from the water and closer to Titus.

But Titus _was _the water and as I breathed into him, his world seemed to spin, and the water was now so close to me, that I could feel its touch in my feet – so cold, so hot it burned. Titus hair brushed my cool forehead and tilted his head again; as his deep, stormy eyes closed, he became part of everything around me. I was now embraced by both Titus and the water, which both burned and froze me so; as his lips met mine, I finally understood what he had meant. _"I am the air you breathe, your senses, your soul, Eleanor Collins. You cannot possibly lose me."_

And to say it... that second my world seemed to blow up into pieces. Into atoms, should I say. The lightning tangled around my feet, and I had to hold tight because if I would lose Titus, I would lose _everything. _The picture wasn't dark anymore, but so clear it blinded me, and I didn't know what I was feeling, but the world was collapsing around us, and we were the beginning for it all.

What I hated the most, was the fact I knew Titus had been right; I couldn't stay there forever, and I was losing everything.

For a second Titus moved an inch further from me. I still could feel his heartbeat, so fast because there was too much he was doing then – and I could see the struggle was too much for him. He smiled again – a smile full of pain; his lips moved upwards only jerking.

Now it was again so cold and I feared – but Titus opened his eyes, looking at me. I could see _everything_ there, all he had done to me, all the pain he had caused.

"Sleep, Elea," he whispered, closing his eyes because he couldn't stand to see what happened next.

When he let go and I fell into hazy blackness, all the strings holding me from falling apart snapped.

It was a dream within a dream.

* * *

When I woke up, for a second I thought my eyes were sea green.

No-one around me was awake. It was just as if I was laying in a place full of dead bodies, just left there unmovable, and I was the only one alive. The apocalypse, should I say.

As well, I feared so much. It was very cold, and I started straight away rubbing my forehead - I had a pretty damn great headache. And as if it wouldn't have been enough, this body laying next to me had to scare the damn out of me by _twitching._ It was only the fingers, moving like they were playing some instrument, and for a second I forgot who she was.

Then my gaze sharpened to the distance - it was so very dark I wasn't sure what I was seeing; but if I saw right, that there was a lake, and that there on the other shore was a cabin.

Things started slowly getting back into my memory. It was like someone was opening these invisible folders inside my head. Looking at that old log house there I knew there should've been a party, but I couldn't see or hear anything, except this freaky scream and splash; I narrowed my eyes, noticing, that a couple of guys just went swimming there _naked._ They screamed like girls.

I turned my face away, because I wasn't a stalker or anything. Now I could see the opposite direction; it was definitely night. The sky was all filled with bright stars like the nearest city was a million miles away, the moon even shone. It wasn't though completely full. Or then there were just clouds moving across it.

I looked at the motionless figures next to me. They just couldn't be dead. And judging from the naked guys swimming in the lake, I'd say we weren't in the Underworld or anything. My gaze was again locked on the girl twitching her fingers. The only thing that was missing was some sort of humming, but she was silent all right. Soon I though noticed it wasn't the fingers that really caught my attention. It was something around the fingers.

It was hard for me to remember her name as her eyes were closed, but judging from the colour of her aura she was... well, it was bright and everything. She had this light, almost white but sorta yellow aura, which circled her like she was a sleeping angel. She was Marié, the daughter of Hermes.

Next to her lay this girl with long, orange hair, it was almost bronze. Or... there _had_ laid. Now... I saw only an empty spot between Marié and the girl with blue hair - and I almost got a freakin' heart attack as I turned around.

"The road begins here," a voice whispered, and I reached out for my drug-needle, but remembering it still was full I just narrowed my eyes; I must've been pretty blind right there. That wasn't even a damn villain, just Doris, the daughter of Demeter. Even in the moonlight I could see the green tint in her dark eyes; I had never seen ones of that colour.

"Thank gods."

I rose up and rubbed the corner of my eye, wanting to get already away from there; because there was one thing I knew for sure, though everything else seemed so hazy. I knew for the first time then what was the reason for everything I couldn't understand me, how it upset me, and how I felt sort of sad or angry in odd occasions, like when I saw dead birds or guys wearing suits with zebra stripes. And how I missed a can of coca cola, how being dead instead of alive would somehow be so much easier.

I was very, very tired.

"This place's got so much of Pan's energy!" I heard Doris whisper, and she was groping the earth like it was somehow mystically satisfactory to her. "Now that we are almost in the realm of the spirits, I can sense everything so much better."

I was kinda confused of how anything could be sensed better as we were getting closer to death with every step, but I already knew Doris was a madman, so I let it be. I just asked her who in the damn world was this Pan, and Doris just started laughing in this stupid way sounding like a cursed horse and continued rubbing the grass in her hypnotic way. "He's dead."

I raised my eyebrows. I sorta understood it, anyway - dead people could be sensed in a dead world.

"But you know... not really dead. He's faded."

"Faded?" I gazed into the distance, to the moonlit hills, where the straws of grass swung from direction to direction slowly and peacefully, how the water behind us was also peaceful. Everywhere it seemed so very calm, but something was missing; I could only hear the wind, maybe how the stars blinked from the heights and let their resonating hum, but nothing living, no cicada singing.

"Gods don't die, didn't you know that? He was here still, during the last war, but the peace isn't on earth anymore. It's moved from here, where it's needed the most, and the sun's light isn't sparing us - it doesn't shine of mercy, but of destruction, and that's why the god of the wild left, and faded to live a part of this world, his spirit moving from tree to tree and over the waters."

I nodded jerkingly. I had probably copied it from Marié. I probably had heard this Pan's name before, but when I did, his name was a flute's. "They won't awake in a long time," Doris turned to my sleeping friends, with a sigh. I let her tell the rest.

Marié woke up pretty soon after Doris did. Her fingers were twitching while she was awake, gods. She didn't have a visible aura then anymore, but I still knew it existed there. Xenia had already been awake for a long time, but she just didn't rise up - her amber eyes reflected the shimmering moonlight.

Ivan was the second last to wake up. Thalia did that the last; her eyes showing images no-one else could see.

"They have left," were her first words as she woke up.

As my gaze wandered to the moonlit lake (with no naked guys swimming there anymore) my world shattered into pieces. I felt this odd jerk in the bottom of my stomach and suddenly I bended on my knees.

"...Elea?" Marié whispered, touching my shoulder. Though she had her strength to heal, I knew it didn't work in here - nor anywhere. Not for this matter.

"Doris," I turned to the huntress with the moonlight-bronze hair. "Lead us. Marié... I aren't ready yet."

"What?" Marié continued, wrinkling her cute little cheeks, and as a quiet breeze blew over us, my insides started to fill with cold emptiness again.

"When we once get to River Styx, I wish to travel in your boat."

After my words the meadow turned silent, and we were there, everyone, except one whom I had deceived, and now I knew I had failed; my struggle against the traitor was no use, because I couldn't fight with myself.

"Pruce... has gone ahead."

Thalia, Doris and Xenia left us by the Passage. It had been there all the time, and Doris had sensed it; just one thing had been blocking it, and it had been Titus all along - Titus, on the fields of Elysium.

So many thoughts were going through my mind I thanked the god of the wind, whoever it was, for that it wasn't too calm there. Without that wind my bangs must've been moving back and forth like someone would've held a cursed fan right there. I wouldn't have that much room in my little brain to keep my thoughts there - they'd come straight away out of my ears.

Titus was my one hate, love and deceiver; he had torn my soul apart with his two-coloured blade, washed my brain with the waters he had control over. He had wiped Erin's name from the list of my loved and added his own, but he hadn't written it in ink, but in sand on the edge of a shore, that the tide had washed it away a million times.

But it still was there, and though I couldn't remember his face, I knew I would never understand what was going on in his head, under those wild wavy curls. He had told me so much, so many answers, but I didn't know the questions; it was like I had the key, but I didn't have the lock. I would've called it pretty damn frustrating, but speaking like that made my heart bleed like Titus was sawing it apart with his blade. I HATED HIM SO, because he was the damn dead and would stay there like that, because it wouldn't anytime ever be possible to hear anything out of everything from him. So I was practically screaming as I knew where we were going now.

And I didn't know why. Was it in pain or of joy, I had no damn idea, but one thing I knew was there was something wrong with the prophecy.

It told us about fivetraveling through the forbidden waters. Yeah, there had been five of us in the beginning of our quest, but now there was only _four._ Thalia, Doris and Xenia would've come with us, but I guess it would be too much for Xenia to travel that far from the sun and Doris didn't like being in dead places either. Thalia then just had too many duties to take care of - the last words of her to us before she left were something about a freakin' Ares kid from her hunters screaming about some holy animal they had to sacrifice for Artemis. Like Ares kids _cared_ for the goddess herself - they just wanted to strike a spear through some cursed boar. But now as we got every second closer to solving the whole prophecy thing, we seemed to become even more anxious. There was no Thalia there anymore to protect us with her 99% godly powers (1% minus from her falling unconscious from a bolt of lightning she didn't notice) and we had lost one of us. Soon a child slaid through the elder's hand would join us; we were already throwing wild guesses there of who would it be. Marié had told us this theory about huntress Zoë, the lieutenant before Thalia, who had died from the hands of his father Atlas. I had heard about Zoë before, of course, on this freakin' introduction film, but I had never thought of her death. I knew Atlas was a mountain and everything, but how could a _mountain _be anyone's father? (Marié told me later his father was a Titan. Cool and freaky.)

I seriously thought about that thing there. Zoë had before faced a prophecy about a child being slaid through the elder's hand; the words of the prophecy sounded very much like our own. So, that was our job? Getting an immortal kid outta River Styx in the Underworld, just for her to strike down Thalia from her place as the leader of her group?

I bet Zoë'd like the job. But whose demigod daughter was she anyway? I didn't even know was she a damn demigod. Her mother had been Pleione, one of the Oceanides (which kinda spoke of her rising from the rivers) but was she even a goddess? What Zoë then was, if not a demigod? A demi-_Titan?_

The whole thing sounded so stupid I decided to leave it right there.

I knew I had seen the forbidden waters in my dream.

That dream had been so long ago. Well, in it I hadn't realised it was a lake, and it looked pretty much tinier in it anyway, because it had some damn crows by it, gazing at their dark reflections. Giant crows. Well, it must've been some metaphorical thing (another word learned from Chiron or some vocabulary dude) or my sight sucked. Because it totally was the same thing; but this time there was just a lake, and in my dream there had been crows, and right as I had blinked my eyes twice they had turned into only twigs in the side of the pond.

This time the twigs were the fallen spruces Thalia's lightning had struck apart. And not only Thalia's, but Erin's too, and now that Titus was gone, I had no idea where Erin was. I didn't even know why she had done it, did she have a reason or something. Or had Titus just brainwashed her, the way I tried to claim, and his seductive words had only made me even blinder?

I knew I should've never told anybody. I kept the whole dream about Titus inside me for a while, and I didn't even remember it was a freakin' _dream_ until I seriously thought about it. It had been so... real. In it I had known it was a dream, it was as usual in my dreams. And it totally wasn't a regular demigod dream. Just because the happenings in had to be real, because Titus funnel was gone and Pruce wasn't by the lake anymore; they both had vanished like my imagination had wiped out their existence.

But everything in the dream had been too much of a dream; I couldn't control myself in it. It had been first just like normal, me hating Titus and wishing to rip his head apart or take his sword and stab him like a real Nemesis kid. If I'd had the attitude I had when I was awake, everything would be all better. I would've never had my _first kiss_ or anything.

Okay, I totally knew there were many perverts in the world who had these freakin' fantasies all the time about each and every person, but mine wasn't one of them. I wasn't a damn closet-sized Robert Pattison pervert in a pervert coat. It was totally real, me feeling like that for a second... like when I knew my world just spun around Titus, and he _could_ have let me go, let me fall, but he did not - how he held me tighter and actually wanted me.

I wasn't into kissing or anything. I was only into boys as friends, like I've thought all my life. I'd become a great hunter in that sense. But it was the odd thing in Titus... because he wasn't my friend. If for example Ivan, who was my cursed friend and everything though he was a bastard, would try to kiss me, I wouldn't probably accept that. It was just because then everything would become so much harder and the whole world would change, I'd have to change my every thought about Ivan, replace every 'bastard' with SEXYOMGLOL I LOVE YOU. Or something - I didn't have much experience on that stuff or anything. We'd live in this pink fluffy cloud and just snuggle all the time. But Titus... I felt like letting this very big sigh when I thought of him, to let out the empty, cold wind inside me. I had hated him. I'd done anything to hurt him. I couldn't stand to be there with him, and it was only because I knew he hated me so.

And there was something... _something_ in the feeling of someone's hatred turning into love so fast, that it made my heart beat so it made music like Marié when she was playing the _Glory of the Brothers_. And though Titus was the one and only reason I had to let go of everything else, I wanted him to do everything to me; just because letting him go would make my world change so. I wanted to scream, but I only managed to whisper: _..._

This one thing sucked there the most: I did never manage to love him; I just wanted him to love me - I could receive but not give. And the worst: if I was a Hades kid, he was my cursed cousin.

It didn't seem to bother Titus, though. After all, he had brainwashed Erin and everything - and they were cousins, too.

And I told yet nobody; just because thinking or speaking of it would make me hate myself. So I let Ivan, Marié and Gracie into my life - and together, hand in hand, we walked into the water.

It was totally crazy.

The naked, girly-like screaming swimming drunk guys had just like that swam in there, but still they hadn't popped up into the realm of the Dead or something. But now, as the lake was empty of everything, as shimmering and bright as a mirror, as smooth as glass, it seemed to turn into some kind of passage. This was what Doris, Thalia and Xenia had all the time been talking about.

It didn't even feel cold then. We only walked there, with our clothes on and everything, and Ivan actually dragged us underwater. I already thought he had gone mad and tried to kill us or something, but just after our heads had popped away from the surface (and Gracie kept on zapping like she still had the old electricity of the lake in her), Ivan dragged us out of the water; and it was odd, because he seemed to walk forward all the time, and he possibly couldn't have dragged us through the whole lake in a couple of seconds.

But this time we weren't on the shore where a couple of zombies were having their bachelor party. It wasn't even nighttime then. The only thing I could tell was we were on some kind of cliff: a grey haze hung low in the air, so our breath turned into vapour right then. The sky was filled with a layered cloud cover.

"Arm yourselves," Ivan commanded, and as we stood on the shore we all took out our weapons.

"Elea," Ivan turned to me, his eyes burning fierce. "You must do something with that needle of yours. You're vulnerable; you can't even defend yourself!"

"I can't see any poison here," I raised my eyebrows. "Or do you? I'd struck this through a snake any time, but I can't just see any of them here neither."

And then Marié seemed to have the greatest idea in the universe. Her eyes flashed and she turned to me in the blink of an eye, her golden flute in her hands.

"Elea, don't kill me for doing this, but it's the greatest idea I've ever got. You got good reflexes?"

"Umm..."

Ivan seemed to have a slight idea of what was going on in Marié's mind. He gnashed his teeth, moving his lips without a sound, but still with no physical resistance against Marié.

"Okay!" Marié's eyes glowed so bright she almost scared me. Then she took steps away from me and started playing her theme tune; it sounded all normal at first, pretty and everything, but the last note sounded like she had just sneezed into her flute.

In only a seconds I saw Marié's flute turning into a caduceus, but it didn't have the spikes on the heads anymore. This time they were open, and Ivan and Gracie winched back the second they saw snakes emerging from Marié's flute.

I started counting them with my fingers. Two, four, six... ten. No more came, but I bet anyone would freak out seeing a ten snakes attacking all in the same time. I hadn't really seen snakes in IRL, and they looked much more freaky there than on TV. My senses seemed to sharpen looking at those fierce reptiles, and I pulled my drug-needle, ready to struck it through one of those beasts.

As they came towards me, I though freaked out instead of acting brave, and almost collapsed into the water again. Oh, gods. I just hoped those wouldn't be snakes; even birds or something would be better. I could at least kill them by my mere presence.

Ivan, Gracie and Marié all looked stunned as the snakes seemed to fall dead as I looked at them.

It looked odd; they first came at me fizzing in their menacing way, in such speed I had to run, but as I narrowed my eyes and concentrated in stopping them, they actually stopped; went all floppy like I had already struck them with my needle.

Stunned, I stood there for a minute, because I didn't want them to suddenly wake up or anything. After a couple of minutes of silence, I then finally struck my needle through one's throat. I was thankful my needle wasn't translucent or anything, because then I'd _see_ the poison; but I could smell it anyway. It made me sorta dizzy.

"That was the best idea ever!" I heard Marié joy, but Ivan and Gracie only looked stunned. As we, all armed continued walking in the grey haze hanging over the cliff, Ivan came to me, with a smile on his face.

"I could see your aura, Elea."

My eyes widened. "Really? How was it like?"  
Ivan looked pretty stunned. "Strong."

Too bad I couldn't see it myself.

Now as I could tell we were in the realm of spirits, I began to spot everyone's aura more clear. In the haze they really didn't show at all: Marié's looked very dim, because its colour went well chameleon with the haze. Gracie's though glowed pretty bright: it seemed to somehow flame and had this reddish colour, almost orange in it. Ivan's was also pretty visible. It was midnight blue, just like his eyes.

And at last we came to the edge of the cliff, and there the haze seemed to pull back a little. This was what I had seen in a dream; the first dream with my _drug-needle._

Down below I saw endless forest, all up to the shore on the left of our view. There a sharp cliff looking like a mountain rose; but the water wasn't grey like the skies, but all green. It was a reflection of a ghost harbour built so dense the building seemed to be glued together. Endless figures seemed to move towards the harbour, and a thousand of ships seemed to leave from there all at once.

Death Harbour.


	15. SAVE ME

**PART 5: FEAR**

SAVE ME

In the realm of the spirits Ivan's shadow travel was pretty much perfect.

As there were shadows everywhere, I believed he'd get lost at first, but I guess that kind of darkness gave him powers, because I could see a freakin' strong aura around him the whole time we went. It was odd there in that realm, shadow travel. Ivan seemed to move as fast as he had done before, but now I could actually see everything; as if the scenery flowing by moved in slow motion. It scared me, just because... well, Ivan could move anywhere by shadow travel, walk in the air and everything. He told me not to scream because it'd distract him, so I hid my fear; and flying was pretty cool, when I then thought about it. It was kinda like moving on an escalator, but the whole thing was invisible and unable to feel.

Pretty close to Death Harbour we landed into this forest full of spruces so tall they almost reached the skies. I'd guess trees like that would also be like the most green I've ever seen; you know, if they grow well, the needles are huge and everything. But these... they looked dead. The sight was terrifying but sorta enchanting, because they looked so old in that light - like they'd been right there for thousands of years.

And now, as I kept on looking around, scanning at Ivan who had this determined look stuck on his face, Gracie, who was all bruised and Marié, who had her dim light-yellow glow, they looked sorta dead too. Gracie's cuts seemed to bleed again, her expression looked like she was in constant pain, and even Marié didn't look very good there, though she could heal herself and everything. Ivan was just... very pale. I must've looked pretty damn tired.

"So... we're finally here."

Ivan sorta spoke in this rhetorical way. He was like talking to himself. He didn't even want anyone to answer him, comment on his speech or anything. "That's magnificent."

It sorta was, the view. Death Harbour had always sounded pretty menacing to me and I had pretty dark thoughts of it, and though I had seen it in a dream before, it hadn't looked nearly this clear, not at all. Well, it might've been because in my dream I only saw it through a thin haze and from a high cliff, but still... I couldn't believe my eyes. The odd glow was almost startling, I didn't know was I getting blind or something. I could see thousands of ships, mainly the ones with high masts because we weren't that close, but the thing I really was looking at were all the dead people. The lost souls, should I say - there were more of them I had ever seen people in one place, and the thing from I guessed they were dead was because I couldn't see their faces; I saw they were people, but I didn't get what was their eye colour, what kind of noses they had or anything. I just saw faceless figures moving towards the harbour and taking some ship they probably just chose by random, sailing away. It was sort of scary, too.

"Weapons away," Ivan commanded, as we moved closer to the Harbour, so silent and so slowly. "There are no others here than the dead, and our weapons do not work on them. I'd though bet Elea could do something to them - though putting dead people to sleep doesn't really sound... clever."

Then Ivan smirked at me and a strong breeze blew by, so his hair started to flow from direction to direction - I had never seen it as wavy, maybe, because he used tons of gel to keep it all slick, but as I gazed at the mysterious view I jerked forward and almost fell over to his _lap_ or something. He didn't even step back or anything, and it disturbed me. I was used to people frightening or something when I the damn almost _fainted._ I didn't though fall over this time, but it made Ivan look at me mysteriously.

"Elea?" I heard Marié whisper, right next to me. "What's going on? You were like this already when... Pruce left."

Marié's voice faded to almost nothing as he said Pruce's name. I felt the cold vibes getting to me and started sorta hugging myself; thinking no-one could see me. It was Titus again. I saw him in almost everyone; if I would see Pruce now, I couldn't stand it. Ivan didn't even have black hair or green eyes or anything, but they had the same, sorta royal features... and I just hoped Ivan would find a bottle of gel or something to strike into his curls, so I wouldn't feel like kissing him or something.

"I'm just cold," I heard myself whispering. Ivan looked through me again, but I knew he couldn't see my soul. If I even had a soul anymore. We were in the realm of the dead and everything.

I wanted to hold Marié's hand or something as we approached those oddly-glowing ships, moved within the dead. Every time a soul passed next to us... I still couldn't see their face, but I started to hear noises. It was like I was hearing parts of someone's conversation, and all kinds of noises; they were so very different and familiar; some reminded me of the racket a rollercoaster made as it went on its track, some sounded like a children's laugh, I heard someone cry too. Then I heard music: songs I even could recognise, and they just somehow came _out_ of the soul, as if the persons every memory was still there, remaining.

For some reason I decided to say nothing of what I had heard to Ivan, Gracie or Marié. I just had this feeling that for once this could be something I only could hear; this time it was my time to shine, not Ivan's or anyone else's. Ivan shone himself clearly enough already; his blue aura glimmered in the dark light as oddly distinguished.

Then we came to the Gate.

It was this thing built out of... well, I just couldn't tell what it looked like. I'd just say... well, imagine walking into the hugest cemetery in the whole universe. The whole freakin' thing was like as high as a cursed apartment building, and I couldn't understand how I hadn't spotted it from the cliff where we had been just seconds ago. It was just like I could see it only there. I didn't know how it was actually even possible to open that thing; if there was some handle it was taller than three times Gracie, who was the longest of our group (and three heads taller than Marié.)

Then, Ivan, as if he had been there before, stepped like a ten steps back from the gate, looking at us like we were the biggest morons he had ever seen.

"Move! Those gates open this way, you know. You'll get squished for standing there."

And as if they were already opening, the three of us still there ran to Ivan, almost clinging to him. Ivan stared at the gates for a second first; he had this odd look again. As his mouth opened for him to start speaking... ancient Greek again, his aura got stronger, so it almost reached to us, and the gates started to open.

It was very odd. They made exactly no sound at all; we had thought gates that high would even creak or something. But no - they just opened very fast as they were made of smoke, as silent as... well, as silent as you'd think a cemetery was.

This cemetery though wasn't silent. As we entered the gates, our senses suddenly seemed to sharpen, and we could see _everything_ - the faces of the dead, and not only the amount of ships waiting on the shore, but also buildings, like it was a freakin' ghost city. And the noise the lost souls made! I had never heard such mourning in my life. They didn't speak loudly, but as millions of dead start talking all in the same time, the whispering gets so loud it hurts, and I could hear all they said and remembered; their first birthday, the voice of their first love, maybe the crackling of the fire they died in. And then there were this random noises like the sound of a _motorboat_, but they were the ones which freaked me out the most; it was as I shouldn't be hearing them. They were someone's memories, curses, and now I already knew everything, though I didn't even want to. I almost felt like going crazy. I didn't know was I even frightened. I knew that much of knowledge shouldn't fit into my head. Even I, as stupid as I was, knew every time a person learned a new thing, something old wiped out. As I thought of it, I knew I was starting to forget. I wasn't sure had I forgotten all that stuff of my childhood already before, but now I definitely knew it wasn't there anymore. I could still remember some stuff, but it was mainly the unpleasant things. They were starting to get hazy too... and all this knowledge of someone else's life, of something I shouldn't even know, was killing me, so I wouldn't soon remember even my own name.

"I can't handle this," I somehow managed to say; though I had wanted to keep it inside that I could see into the minds of these dead people. "It's too much..."

"This is what Chiron warned us of," Ivan began, and now I knew I wasn't the only one hearing these. It didn't even disturb me anymore. _"The lost souls traveling here might forget their existence..."_

"What can we even do now?" I continued, wishing to block my ears of all that noise, but then I couldn't hear Ivan. "Those ships are made of _smoke_. Like that cursed cab," I was surprised I could even remember it anymore. "And where does that... sea take us?"

"That's the gateway to Alpheus," Ivan continued, struggling with his speech as I was. "It flows to Styx somewhere in the Underworld. But we cannot just leave and take a ship... we are guests here."

Then Ivan turned to Gracie and Marié, and just when I thought things wouldn't get any crazier, I looked at Gracie.

Her aura was just like flaming. It of course wasn't as strong as Pruce's, but I almost feared getting close to her; like her aura would burn me if I touched it. "Gracie?" I squealed, but she didn't seem to hear me. She only looked forward with her awful horrid expression, and I was surprised she looked only as horrid as normal - I had imagined she'd look here like she was tortured or something.

"...Gracie?"

Then I poked her. Her aura didn't hurt me, my finger just pierced through it as there was nothing. And then she turned to me, taking something out of her ear.

"Are you plugging your ears?"

Gracie gnashed her teeth the second she seemed to hear the voices of the dead again. It was really horrible to watch. "Oh, yeah," she answered me, distinguishedly, as her voice came only through her teeth. "I can't just _stand_ listening."

"But... you brought... _those_ with you? Where you even got those?"

Gracie held the golden earplug in her hand, and it looked a little hard to me. Then she flashed me her right wrist, which was now empty. There had been a golden ringlet before. "It can be morphed to any weapon I really want to. Though... I only got about five weapons installed here, I can't like morph it into Zeus' master bolt or anything."

"...you consider earplugs as a weapon?"

Then Gracie even smiled, jerkingly, though. "These aren't _earplugs,"_ she snickered. "They're just bullets, I got the gun in my purse." Her thumb pointed at the leather bag she carried over her shoulder.

I must've looked like O___O. I raised my eyebrows, staring at the bullet Gracie had just had in her ear, unbelievingly.

"You use _bullets_ as earplugs?"

Gracie looked at me like I was crazy - though I should've looked at her that way. And then she just pushed the... thing back to her ear, blocking out all the noises from the outer world.

As we moved within all those dead people our ears plugged, led by Ivan, I was starting to think could they even see us, or know we were there. The dead just seemed somehow hypnotised; like they were in this trance-state were they just memorised their lives, having no idea there were living beings. I had like though the dead would cling onto us or something. But these just raced to the ships and left, went through us like we didn't even exist.

We were moving towards this dark fort I had thought seen before, in my dream probably. It had this black glow around it, and saying it was kinda odd, because I couldn't really imagine anything glowing black. The place looked sorta like a castle, but it was so much smaller, and had this crazy tower on it, so I bet someone was stalking at us from there.

_"This is odd..."_ I could read from Ivan's lips - I had heard him say it so many times before I already knew what he looked like when wondering that. _"This is too easy..."_

But I wasn't exactly sure was that was he really said. But if it was, he totally was right. Okay, we were about to lose ourselves as millions and millions of dead just kept pouring in, but otherwise... I'd thought some monster would attack us or something. The whole journey had been too easy until then... we had came here all the way from the camp and we were somewhere I couldn't tell - so I bothered to ask it from Ivan, and I bet he said something about the river Alpheus flowing in Italy, but we just couldn't have warped to Europe going through a lake... and if Mount Olympus was located at Empire State Building, Alpheus must've moved somewhere too... if we still were in Oregon, that sea there must've been the Pacific.

Where in the damn world was River Styx?

THUMP, THUMP, THUMP.

That's what it sounded like when Ivan knocked the doors of the Black fort in Dead Harbour.

It was like Ivan's fist had suddenly turned into steel. The whole world seemed suddenly very real - and it was like the spirits turned only into ashes in the wind, this whole harbour was only a haunted beach somewhere nowhere.

But as the doors opened without no-one even taking the handle, we knew some greater force was playing with us right there. This whole place was full of cursed dead people and we stepped into a palace guided by skeletons.

Marié screamed. We didn't hold our ears anymore as the doors closed behind us, but now only silence filled the endlessly dark room; and we couldn't see nothing else than too skeletons, dressed up in some sort of uniforms, holding torches.

"Um... hello?" I whispered, feeling Marié clinging to me. Gracie though... was she excited or something? Her expression wasn't even so horrid anymore, she just kinda smiled. I bet she was fascinated of all those spider webs the skeletons had gathered through all these years. She had told me of some liking she had towards spiders sometime, and it felt like so long ago.

It was kinda too bad Ivan wasn't a Hemera kid. The whole hall was so dark it scared me, and no-one of us really had so light powers. I couldn't see anyone's aura there anymore, and those torches held by a dead man's grip didn't really look tempting. And there we just were silent, afraid in the dark, not daring to move – until something totally frightening happened. We all just stared in the faces of those skeletons, only lit by the torchlight, when suddenly the torch held by the skeleton on the left went crazy. It just started blazing like the skeleton was suicidal and set the whole freakin' thing on fire – well, skeletons didn't really burn, but as the fire just spread onto the uniform and lit the whole room alight, I turned to Gracie. Her aura was visible again.

"What?" She asked, flames in her eyes. "I can't see anything in here. I just wanted to light up the place a little."  
"Thank gods you didn't light _us_ on fire," Ivan rolled his eyes. The torch didn't burn anymore, but the skeleton had collapsed on the floor, the uniform all ripped, and the whole room was filled with a smoky scent.

"Those skeletons seem to have no resistance," Gracie stated. "I guess they don't mind if we steal one of those torches, what do you say?"

I shrugged my shoulders, noticing, that Marié still stood so close to me I was starting to get kinda hot. Now, as there was only one torch to light up the room it was so much darker and I couldn't see almost _anything, _but I bet Ivan saw the whole damn room with his cat-eyes. Gracie stepped to take the torch from the skeleton, and led by her we started moving towards the insides of the fort, though we really didn't have a destination. I just knew Ivan had to visit this place before we could leave Death Harbour – like he was to visit the guy we rent the ships from. We didn't dare to speak or anything right then. We just walked in endless darkness, and there Ivan's every sense seemed to sharpen, so his every movement seemed menacing; so he really freaked the damn out of us as he turned around in a flash, his eyes narrowed, towards Gracie.

"The corner," he whispered. "Gracie..."

Gracie bit her lip as he turned the torch to the place where Ivan's gaze was pointed at. We couldn't still hear anything of there, but something we _did _see.

Gracie's torch lit the room such a little, so the wall was visible to us. There, right in the middle of complete darkness, was a door. For some reason it reminded me of a lighthouse. And for some reason I knew this whole building was empty - why should anyone real even be here? It was _Death _Harbour, the whole name already spoke of the whole place being haunted or something.

"Gracie, Marié?" Ivan turned to my friends, his eyes flashing on the door. "Is it too much for you to stand there while I and Elea go and check out what's behind that door? You know... we all can't go in, if the door's gonna get locked or something."

Marié winched. "Why you two? I don't want to be here with... skeletons!"  
Gracie sighed. "Am I a skeleton?"  
"No!" Marié looked all around as she was paranoid. "What if the dead come through the door?"  
"Why'd they come?" Ivan continued, in a sorta calming tone. "They're busy stealing some boats. And if we don't want to go with them, let's just say... we need a little permission slip."

Marié swallowed, but nodded, and I and Ivan opened the door to the dark room.

I must say I would've rather gone in with Gracie or someone. Marié'd just cling onto me, and well... as I thought of it, Gracie wasn't such great company either, as I was pretty sure she'd light something on fire when I'd turn my head around. Ivan could see in the dark and everything, but he just reminded me too much of one person I didn't want to mention, and just looking at him opened new cuts inside me. Inner bleeding. It was worse than outer; only because then no-one could help you.

No-one except the one causing it.

Ivan was the first one I told.

I was pretty much sure our voices weren't heard by Marié and Gracie through the door, just because the door itself was made of steel and was probably as thick as three normal doors put together. It was easier than I thought, but not until we had discovered what this whole place was about was when I decided to open to someone. I, though I wouldn't have wanted, let Ivan hold my hand, because he could see where to walk and he could lead me then; and I just didn't feel like standing on the door as Ivan disappeared into complete darkness. The whole room didn't have even a single window, no lamp or anything; this place was totally designed for the dead. Ivan finally led me to this table (it was so damn frustrating, hearing Ivan say it _was _a table but I couldn't see the freakin' thing) and I heard rustling, as if Ivan was going through some papers there. "Could this be some sort of map..."

"Hey, please," I blinked my eyes like a thousand times, if it'd help me see something. "Isn't there _any _way to light this place up?"

Ivan turned to me; though it was completely dark, I saw his eyes glow there, and it looked awfully spooky; just a pair of eyes floating in never-ending blackness. "Well... if you'd be the child of Zeus or someone instead of Hades... you'd have a brighter aura or something."

Ivan laughed, and I started thinking of my aura again. I started again act ways I didn't even want to. Like Titus was controlling me still, though he was so far away. _"You are no daughter of Zeus..."_

Ivan blinked his eyes. That was probably the only thing I could really see there. "What did you say?"  
I shook my head. A wave of cold seemed to flush through me again. "Nothing."

"You just claimed yourself... well, I don't believe it either..."  
"Ivan," I sighed deeply. I leaned over to something, I guess it was the table. My hands met a cold surface, and suddenly I felt very, very lonely. "I couldn't see Viquel. I can't see her, I can't see Erin... I can't see Titus."

Suddenly Ivan sounded very worried. It made me gnash my teeth – though I really needed someone to comfort me, I didn't want this whole thing happening in some tower, behind closed doors, in a room so dark I couldn't even see the tip of my damn stupid nose.

"What do you mean?" He babbled. "They aren't here, is that the..."

"Don't you get it?" I struck the table with my fist, so that I heard a rustle again, like I had just dropped a pile of ancient papers to the floor. "Greta, that girl from the Dionysus cabin, she wanted me to see if Viquel was yet judged. But I couldn't see her, though she is dead, and I can't _feel_ her... I know she _is _because you told it, but if I wouldn't know... I'd just think she never existed."

Ivan seemed to winch as he heard me speaking of Viquel. "Don't blame yourself," he continued, but his tone of voice was oddly distinguished and all jerky, like he was resisting to speak. "You're new to this world. New half-bloods don't always know..."  
"The children of the big three know," I closed my eyes, clutching my fists. "The children of the big three have powers since the beginning. Powers that actually work. Like Titus summoning a _hurricane... _and I, I only could kill birds. And snakes. Does that make me a child of the big three? I always thought being a child of Hades would be _cool... _but I can't even summon the dead, I just can't... everything around me dies."

And then my voice faded away, like it hadn't even existed. I guess it helped me for Ivan to stay just silent. It was easy for me to speak to him right there, as he couldn't see my tears. I hated crying for something I shouldn't, and now I knew why I ever didn't want to love anyone; if you owned less, you had nothing to lose.

I had lost everything.

"I hate Titus Silverheart," I took a shivering breath, forming his name, only whispering, and the hatred in my voice burned my throat like poison. And still there was nothing inside me; I had only bones and _wind. _And because of it, every breath I took made me cold, it hurt so unbelievably much.

The worst thing in it was Ivan could never show empathy towards me, because he had been on a quest the past two years – the years Titus came on the camp, and Ivan probably hadn't even seen him ever.

"How did he hurt you?"  
I closed my eyes, wishing for someone to embrace me, chase this cold away. "He is the reason I _am."_

"What do you mean?"

It was odd to hear that from Ivan. I'd thought he was a professor enough to understand. I didn't know was I even _happy _for it.

"Everything I have ever learnt is not real."

Then I started to sorta cry, and Ivan leaned onto me, so my cuts started to bleed like the tears I knew pouring down, and though I wished for me to stop it was so hard, because I didn't have the strength. I didn't really _cry, _though_._ I didn't know what it was. I didn't have the strength to even _cry. _I was only so tired, and it kinda felt like I was hyperventilating, except sometimes my voice seemed to collapse, and I had to dig my nails into the table for me not falling down. A cold breeze blew from every direction, shadows fell on me, harassing me into a dark, lonely corner where I couldn't raise from. I wasn't able to go on.

"Elea, you scare me," Ivan continued, and I felt a pinch in my chest. "What did he do to you?"  
I pressed my eyelids tighter closed, scratching the surface and swaying back and forth, knowing I wanted to answer Ivan, but my voice was gone just like in my dream.

_Dream._

Titus' last words rang in my ears, my life flashed by – pictures struck into my face, imprinted into my eyes, and I sunk under the table as I understood my nightmare was my own fault.

Elea Collins, the daughter of Hades, was a HUGE, DIRTY LIE, in capitals.


	16. WE GET KILLED SORT OF

**PART 6: REASON**

WE GET KILLED - SORT OF**  
**

He called me Eleanor.

When the black sun rose on the day my world's end, I knew I was damned.

I always knew something. And I hated it too much, because... I lied to myself. I always had a kind of prediction, for example that the day is going to suck, and now I finally understood the reason - I didn't _know_ anything - I only was the greatest pessimist in the universe.

And why? All because of the family I lived in - a stepfather I thought of loving, a mother straight from heaven and someone, who was the reason for everything that had ever happened to me.

No-one believed me, because I didn't dare.

* * *

It was easy to think Ivan was a bastard.

He told he hated teachers; old people who told us things about this world, but so narrow-eyed they crushed the opinions of everyone else. The superior perfect, people like Chiron, immortal, been here for a millennium.

Ivan had been there for 16 years.

His life was Viquel Chesapeake - his drained life-force, living in silence, slaid by his own stupidity.

My life was Titus Silverheart, the one I couldn't see, but the one I couldn't forget.

"Never," a whisper rang through the room painted black and grey, in the shades of Death. "Never trust anyone."

I didn't know was it Ivan or me, because we were so similar we could be one person. The only thing in it was Ivan being a son of Nyx, and I being a daughter of...

"I wish to sleep, Ivan."

The glow in his sharp, yellow cat-eyes seemed to dim. They were still the only thing I could see.

"What do you mean?"

"I am tired, so tired."

Ivan stayed silent. I heard the sound of a zipper opening - it seemed odd now as we were in a world so unreal; like things like zippers wouldn't even exist there. I remembered him taking a few drachmae with him, so when I saw the light of Ivan's eyes mirroring from a coin with Zeus' face imprinted on it, I knew he wasn't going to steal a boat from here.

"You're unbelievably honest."

"You think so?" Ivan continued, and judging of the chinking I heard right next to me he was counting his money. "I may never pay the price for this journey."

I raised my eyebrows. "It's not like all those _millions_ of souls just steal ships even right now."

"They have paid," Ivan continued, in his odd, powerful voice, which though was so easy to forget. "No greater price can be paid than a life. They will walk this earth never again. And even if someone would raise them down from the unseen, it won't be similar. That's why I fear... I fear Viquel forgetting everything. Do I dare disturb the forever silence she has been given? Death is given as a gift for the human kind; so we wouldn't have to live this life again, feel all that pain."

I thought of it too. Would I dare do that to Titus? I didn't have the slightest idea of what could I do. If only I would have known him better - so that he could've told me did he really want to go.

"Do you believe..." I started, without knowing what actually was my destination. "Was their time yet? Did they want to... leave us?"

"No-one actually _wants_ to," Ivan began. "They both fear and admire death so - and when time comes, it is everyone's choice to make theirselves."

I rubbed the corner of my eye. There was a slight tickle, though I hadn't noticed myself crying. "If I were a daughter of Hades... would death be a threat to me? Would it be possible to me see it in a different light? As only... the next step. The step both close and so far from immortality."

"Aren't you one already?" Ivan laughed - he sounded again like some bird. "Are you starting to forget?"

"I hoped you would have understood. I cannot see."

"What did you see, when Greta asked you of Viquel?"

"Only darkness, nothing more."

Ivan was silent for a second. I bet if I could've seen something more than only his eyes, he would've been rubbing his cursed chin or something. "I have never..." he mumbled, scratching something. All my other senses seemed to sharpen right there, as I couldn't see. "...understood the afterworld. I have been told about everything there is, by one tutor I had on the camp on my first year. But from what on have I listened to teachers? If they only speak us of death in a way we should fear it, are they right? It is like... like every decision we make against someone else's will takes us even closer to Tartarus. It's ridiculous."

I sorta smiled, when thinking of those times when I still was on the camp, safe and sound, without this cold breeze inside me. The time when I, Ivan, Pruce, Marié, Gracie... and Frederick, the Apollo kid, were all together. They took me back to times which were to me like long-gone summers.

"What is Tartarus?"

Ivan probably smiled, I couldn't tell. "Your eyes are all red, Elea. I believe there are dark thoughts enough going in your mind for now for me to tell you about something like it... but let's just say; you will never go there."

"How can you tell? You're a son of Nyx, _night-owl."_

"You are not a murderer."

I bet Marié and Gracie had either 1) set the whole place on fire, 2) gotten so worried of us I was almost ashamed.

So we decided to get on with this, and fast. Ivan started to talk to me about maps, some papers I probably had lost when I got mad with the freakin' table, and it was pretty damn frustrating for me to see nothing else than Ivan's maniac eyes and Zeus' powerful face staring from the coins on the table. I heard Ivan spread one of the maps on the table - it was hard as stone. "I bet this is our route to the Underworld," I heard him mumble, and for some reason I could tell that was a map of the United States of America.

I could _see_ it was a map of America.

"Umm... Ivan?"

I saw him turning to me. I also saw this table he had spread the papers on, the walls and everything. The room was oddly round, like we were in one of those towers.

"You look pretty paranoid, Elea."

"And you're just _stupid,_ Ivan. I can see it from your face."

Then I noticed Ivan wrinkled his eyebrows in an odd way and the corners of his mouth rose slowly, and he gave me a toothy grin. "Well, I can see your aura, Elea."

It scared me, really. I raised my right arm, like I was examining my _nails_ or something (I noticed I looked at them like a guy, with my fist clutched and everything) and noticed this dim glow around it, a weird dark colour I couldn't tell yet.

"...what colour of aura does a child of Hades have?"

Ivan pressed his lips tightly together. "I haven't ever met one. But I bet it's the same colour as yours. That's kinda like the Hecate kids... except more blue..."

"Hey please, Ivan. Be more exact!" Oh, gods, I sounded excited. "What colour do you see?"

"...blue."

"Don't lie to me, Ivan. This totally isn't _blue."_

Ivan laughed again. "Fine, Elea. Indigo blue. Should I even say..."

Then I noticed I was looking at the walls, the table, everything. And Ivan, whose face glimmered in the colour of my aura. I felt very odd right there. I couldn't say exactly powerful, but... significant.

"...Purple."

I even laughed, noticing that I and Ivan said it all in the same time. I'd say I was even fascinated of my own aura. I bet if I'd still think of myself as a complete mortal with no idea of anything, the old Collins girl back from ol' Canada, I'd crack up laughing. It was still kinda amusing right there. I was actually _glowing._ Freakin' glowing!

"Take your time," Ivan smirked. Then he turned to the map of America, and even from there I could see some sort of route, like someone had marked something there with a marker. If I had ever listened on my geography lessons, I'd say river Alpheus had to begin from some bay, ocean or anything, because it had anyway moved here from Italy. I started slightly to remember... on the camp Chiron and Ivan, when they had argued of Death Harbour, had mentioned a passage in Los Angeles. They of course didn't mean a passage to the realm of the spirits, like the one we passed through, but an actual way to the Underworld. It was slowly starting to even make sense to me. _Hades lived under Los Angeles._ I wasn't though even surprised - Hollywood was such crap and full of fakes anyway; it was totally hell.

"We've moved quite a bit," I heard Ivan's voice, and I moved right behind him, to examine the map closer. "There's Oregon..." his finger moved right under Washington, and not until now I understood how far we had moved from the camp. The Grey siblings must've totally robbed us after their crappy cab ride. "And judging of Doris taking us south... So we must be..."

"...is that the Gulf of California?"

"...we possibly can't be _that_ south," Ivan huffed. "Aren't there spruces and everything out the-"

Then something snapped in my head. The trees outside weren't _spruces._ They were way too tall to be spruces. They looked even more like pines. It was of course odd, I had always imagined palm trees or something growing that south, but thank gods I had kept my eyes open the past times. I had seen that many trees in my life, I could tell...

"The tallest living tree is in California, Ivan," I commented. I felt like totally _Einstein_, curses. There must've been a lamp or something as freaky floating over my head. "Hyperion. I bet I heard that name somewhere... the introduction film!"

Ivan laughed. "So, that's everything you remember of it? The Titan of the sun being transformed into the highest tree in the whole world? That's believable, for sure."

Smiling, I pushed Ivan aside and leaned over to examine the map. I must've been right, we were so south. Okay, it still felt kinda illogical for Death Harbour being near Mexico and I had sorta imagined all the redwoods were located north, but maybe there was some palm up there on the cliffs. The climate there had been so moist, so it must've been in south. I saw Ivan staring at the route marked in red unbelieving; but a smile on his face, though.

"Who in the _damn world_ turned Alpheus into _River Colorado?"_

I dug my elbow into Ivan's ribs. "That's my phrase!" but then I smiled too - it was sorta so amusing - Colorado being a part of the River Styx, Hades living under Los Angeles and Olympus being over Empire State Building. It was one of my famous wow-moments; I had them quite a lot the past times. Everything felt like snapping together then, but we still had one problem.

The prophecy spoke of five - there were only four of us.

And again... my good mood seemed to drain away like someone would've used a hoover to clean places up a little. As the cold breeze blew through me again I collapsed towards the table: Ivan took hold of me and everything, but as if would've made me feel any better. I could've laughed. I felt so damn stupid. I snickered.

_The one of the six still unclaimed, the price for his sacrifice will be paid._

How could've I been so stupid? Pruce wasn't the damn dead – this death-thing could've been his sacrifice... but there was no prize yet, and still there would've been only five of us in total; the sixth, the one rising from the rivers (now as I knew Alpheus was Colorado, I kinda thought of Styx being the Mississippi or something, except it didn't make sense at all) was still down somewhere, in the hands of Hades.

And the greatest of it was how I finally understood every mistake I had done; and all because of them, Pruce hadn't gone ahead – he had been left behind.

I think Ivan saw my stupidity too. I had always sorta suspected he could read thoughts or something - but he never used it into anything good; it was kinda like he knew everything what was going on in my mind and he wanted to do just against it. I had seen it already when I found him from the Hades cabin, from the bed that had been mine - and since that he had been quite of a bastard. And that's why I could never lose him.

"I am very, very tired, Ivan," I whispered, leaning on to the table. It was getting harder for me to see again - my aura had gone dim.

"I can see it," he answered in his oddly distinguished tone. "But you cannot sleep now, it is hurry."

"Is it, indeed?" I didn't have the strength to raise my head, so I just stared at the orange hair which fell over my forehead, covering my sight. "Do you remember the prophecy?"

"I do. _But the journey shall be end for one's calling..."_

"You don't remember it at all!" Ivan could be really dumb at times. Or annoying, either way. "You don't remember how it begins. It speaks of _five,_ Ivan."

Ivan turned silent for a second, and from the corner of my eye I could see how he was thinking, it must've been really hard for him then. For a while I almost thought he wouldn't get it, but suddenly his expression changed - the self-satisfied, confident expression melted from his face like someone had just wiped it away.

"...I am a fool."

"You got it, finally?" Now I knew my aura wasn't there anymore, but a glow of another, a little darker colour filled the room - Ivan's midnight-blue light. "Unless you got two personas or something it's a little hard for us to... go on."

"You told us he has gone ahead... and how do you know do the forbidden waters mean Death Harbour or what? The prophecy speaks of _the solvers of the quarrel between the fathers..._ - it might mean us when we have already solved the whole thing. If we return this way."

"Come on, Ivan, you're the professor of this group!" I almost laughed - it was so surprising for Ivan to act like that. "Even I know there's no return the other way. I don't even know how in this damn world are we going to actually _leave_ from the Underworld. If there would be, those souls wouldn't be going there - they would stay right there were they are."

"If they're possessed?"

I rolled my eyeballs. I bet Ivan was really joking right there - it was impossible for him to act stupid.

Ivan was probably just about to start act like a freakin' teacher trying to solve out some mystery - like walk around the room rubbing his damn chin or something as stupid, when we heard an awful bang, which freaked me out so I sorta instinctively grabbed Ivan's sleeve, and right when I understood what I had done I almost fell on the floor; laughing hysterically, because it was such a dumb situation. Every time something really freaked me out I either acted like _omg, really?_ Or then just did something very stupid - like grabbed Ivan's _arse._ Thank gods I didn't have the cursed _guts_ to do that. I should've never been sent there with freakin' Ivan.

"That's only Gracie," Ivan mumbled. "Marie's really wrecking her nerves there. She's thinking that torch Gracie's got carries some curse, because she stole it from a skeleton."

Ivan raised his eyebrows and suddenly I understood what he had just said - did he really, actually know what was happening behind those doors? He was a son of Nyx and everything, but his cat-eyes couldn't see through doors. Or then he just tried to beat my awesome guessing skills.

"Well, let's get over this, then," I looked at the map of America again. "We won't be needing this, yet. I just need to... we need Pruce before we go."

"Why?"

Oh, gods. How could Ivan say that? Well, he was probably so eager in saving his Viquel, but though I wanted to see... well, _my one and only hate_ (I couldn't possibly think of his name - I suddenly understood what Greta had felt when she tried to open to me.) I wasn't going anywhere before everything would be right with the prophecy. The prophecy was made for us to follow, and if we'd just start going wherever we wanted without following what it had said... well, we'd get nowhere.

"Let me sleep, Ivan."

He must've really been amazed there - his aura lit the whole room up right then. I could even see the tips of my damn _shoes,_ think about that. He just stood there like he had actually turned into a cursed lifeless lantern, his fists all clutched up, probably shaking too. I bet he couldn't throw any darts right then.

"There is something you haven't told me, Elea."

"You know that already!"

"You haven't even answered me! I asked you already before of Titus, and now-"

When I heard his name, my knees bent in an odd way, but I took hold of the table before they would give in. What was wrong with me? I knew I'd never ever be able to sports again if I'd go on collapsing every time I thought of one single _name._ The worst thing was I really didn't know should I start telling it to Ivan right now, the whole story and my theory and everything, but I just didn't trust him enough. He was the one guy I'd grab when someone like Gracie would start banging a damn steel door. If I had to choose someone now... I couldn't choose anybody. Marié had been the one I had trusted the most, probably because she had been stalking me every second since I had came to the camp. But I knew, even though she was a daughter of Hermes, that she couldn't heal these cuts. They bleed, bleed constantly, my cuts on fire, burning like they were still struck by the lightning tangling around my feet, the second Titus saved my life - and murdered my soul.

I let it be.

"I am only very tired, Ivan. I can't like walk anymore. You know, I've been awake for like a 48 hours straight? That's why my freakin' knees are giving in, nightie."

Oh, gods, I really _was_ tired. What a nickname was that?!

"I understand you..." And when Ivan had slept last? I didn't even the damn know. I was feeling pretty selfish right there - but I knew I was the only one who could save Pruce. "But we really must go now..."

"Ivan," I sighed, turning my back on him, closing my eyes; seeing pictures beneath my closed eyelids.

"I am not the daughter of Hades."

Ivan thought I was mad.

And I did it. That must've been the reason he really let me sleep - and sleep only for a second. We had opened the door and let Gracie and Marié in with us, maybe because we had been chatting there with Ivan for like a million years and still no skeleton had tried to strangle our two buddies. Marié then was pale as a ghost - her hair and skin were like the same colour. Her teeth clonked together like it was freezing down there.

"I am so not gonna sleep in here."

"You just gotta," I insisted. Marié showed oddly a little resistance, and it sorta scared me - like all this hanging out with the dead would drain a part of her sunny persona. Gracie held still a torch, and finally I could see everything in the room - like the super thick steel door we had just closed so tight like we were trying to lock ourselves in or something. I could also finally spot how tired I actually looked - my ponytail had dropped to my neck and my hoodie felt cold and uncomfortable. Oh, and the perpetual leggings. I'd just say they looked like I had given them a nice eh... haircut.

"We're just about to move to the Underworld, Marié. I bet this is one _million_ times better than hanging down there."

"But why here? We're locked in this pitch-black room, and we have to put out that torch before we fall asleep - we can't just leave that thing... burning when there's no-one looking after it. I don't wanna burn alive. Either way, we're in both occasions going to the Underworld."

"We could take turns," Gracie suggested. "I'm not tired yet. I can hold the torch."

I raised my eyebrows. "Oh yeah, and you'd stalk me _screaming_ in my sleep."

"You didn't scream in your sleep when we slept together," Ivan commented.

Marié and Gracie sorta snickered, and suddenly I understood what Ivan had just said. I coughed.

"Umm, Ivan?"

The expression on his face didn't change or anything. "What?"

I shook my head. Guys sure could be stupid.

Well, Marié finally agreed to sleep there, when she remembered Gracie was a daughter of Hephaestus and could control fire - like put it out if it'd set her clothes on fire or something. I though knew Gracie couldn't summon it from thin air or anything, so if she'd lit the torch out we'd be all alone in the dark. I though kinda guessed it'd be better to not tell that to Marié.

She was tired though, too. If I'd speak like the cursed satyrs on the camp, I'd just say she fused out, like some candle put out. She even fell asleep before me. But I bet her dreams were totally different from mine.

* * *

When I woke up, I was at the Passage.

The edges of my view were hazy again, and I sorta started thinking of _windscreen wipers._ I always thought stuff about that. A fuzzy image, windscreen wipers. What's so odd about that?

Well, I knew the place was familiar to me. It was because I could never forget it - and now I was about to face the one I had deceived, the one I had left behind, only because I wanted Titus too much.

Thank gods in my dream my balance was perfect. My movements though... they weren't fast this time. It was almost scary, like I was swimming in syrup or something. My gaze moved from side to side, and somehow I could notice the edge of the horizon and the lake; I knew there was the place where I had seen the party cabin, but the lights were out, so I couldn't really see anything. It was beginning to get morning, though. The moon didn't shine as brightly anymore.

And with fear I took the steps I would've never wished to take. I almost feared everything would start to repeat itself again, and for a second I nearly wished it would be true. If I would see Titus again, I would plead for him to repent everything he had done; nothing of that would have happened to him, neither Pruce. Neither me.

He was waiting for me. I was so willing to see that look in his eyes, a mixture of green and blue, his dark hair and the celestial bronze dagger he carried with him.

He was Pruce, not Titus. I shook my head when seeing him - I couldn't forget him. But in him I saw Titus more I had ever seen in anyone - everything was so similar in them! Titus hair was more fierce and his eyes were more green, but still... they both were so powerful. Looking at Pruce right then I understood something else, too. It wasn't Titus, uniquely Titus I had met in a stage of mind when I the last time saw him, a part of him was Pruce. It made me fear the figure laying on the ground so.

"I am here," I heard myself whisper; I had my voice in this dream. Now everything seemed to disappear, as Pruce looked into my eyes, with those eyes of his. They fascinated me; I still couldn't understand a boy of that age having eyes like his. They were as old as Chiron's - even _older._

"Do you remember?"

Was that me, asking? Sometimes I could really act odd in a dream. They frustrated me so, just because I could control them and everything, and every damn thing I decided in a dream came true, like they were my one single passage to one single world, which was still in all occasions the same as our own - but still I wasn't almighty even there. The only thing I actually liked in them was the way everything seemed so much easier there, and my thoughts even didn't wonder. Normally I'd start comparing myself into all the gods I knew when thinking of the world _almighty._ But now... the only thing which was important was Pruce, he was the only light in the night beginning to dawn. I had to save him before I would become uncovered by the day; if Apollo would know about my voyages in my dreams, he'd spread the rumour in no time. If he actually was what Fredrick Hayes claimed him to be.

"I am so sorry."

I didn't know what was the feeling which took over me then. I just felt so awfully guilty – Pruce, who hadn't even done anything, had been left here, had been almost killed because me, only me. And he was everything I had seen in Titus – everything except my memories of him, and already know I knew Titus could never be as powerful as Pruce.

"I watched the rain."

I leaned over to see if he was alright. He could speak, I was thankful for that. I still though feared of something snapping in his head when Titus attacked him like that. "I saw so much... sharks..."  
"I don't think it's wise for you to speak right now..." it felt relieving for me to say that; I hated comforting people because I sucked in it – it was so much easier for me to ask them to just be not doing something.

"Sharks are awesome."

Then he laughed, and I stared at his dark hair, which though he had never dyed it, had an oddly bluish tint to it. As I thought of Pruce himself right there, I was so amazed. He was only 12, I forgot it so often.

I bet if I could see to his soul there would be oceans within - some soul so old I couldn't understand. Pruce felt to me like something unreal, something... godly. I though wasn't sure was that the right word. _Holy_ would probably describe him better, because he didn't exactly have that vibe to him. He was impossible to read, and I knew already then something about him - Titus would never overpower him.

"I saw sharks... the waves. I went after them."

"That's why you ran away?" My voice sounded oddly quiet. Pruce didn't even know about Titus? He had to, he couldn't just imagine Titus as a cursed shark. Though he had so pointy hair it would look like a fin or something.

"No, not only. Then _he_ came."

Pruce's face turned oddly dark - he almost scared me. "I wish he was dead."

As he spat those words an odd wave of cold flushed through me, but this time I felt nothing more - I just kept on blinking my eyes, like I wouldn't have understood those words. Pruce stayed so silent, spoke to me about sharks and had the odd glow in his eyes. Who was he?

"You like sharks?"

"You bet! And camels."

I know it was odd of a situation - my insides felt so empty like I could feel nothing anymore, but everything in Pruce made me laugh. I looked him into the eyes, smiling to his liking of camels. I saw again pictures in them, but this time they were nothing menacing; I saw only Pruce, him dancing in the rain, with yellow boots on - and then him leaning to the window lonely in the Poseidon cabin before Titus hade came, listening how the droplets made music. But I couldn't see the rain; and now I knew he wasn't looking at rain itself; he had photographs of rain, pictures he caressed with his fingers, and turning them around I noticed they weren't only pictures but postcards; him reading every single letter written on them, though it would be so hard to everyone else.

"How do you do it?" I asked, still not completely in the normal world. I didn't see Pruce laying there on the grass, his hair all wet and a pale face. I only saw the photographs of rain. "How do you read?"

"Can't you do it?"

I bit my lips. I could read, yes, but for example the word-monsters Pruce could just pronounce without problems. Like the _Phl-something,_ the river flowing into the Styx. He just had to be more than human!

"And how do you do it? How could you run so fast... and your aura, it's... even Ivan had never seen anything like it."

Pruce tilted his head, with a mysterious expression on his face. For a second I felt anger; he had copied that from Titus.

Then I understood Titus had copied it from him. Something shattered inside me.

"I like sharks."

It almost made me laugh, but even though he would've just told me the greatest joke in the universe, I just couldn't have laughed. It was too odd for me... how could he have survived?

"You are not a son of Poseidon," I breathed. "What... what can you exactly do? I bet you can do something... with an aura like that... I'd believe you could drown the whole earth in a flush."

Pruce turned to me with a mysterious expression on his face. It was as if I had just put his skills to a test. But it was exactly what I wanted - I couldn't go on without knowing who Pruce actually was.

"Water," he said, and firstly I just thought he was very stupid. Soon I started to hear this odd sound, which brought me something in mind, it was like waves crashing into a high cliff or a storming sea.

I turned around, breathless. I knew Pruce wasn't about to drown me, and it was the only reason for me to not fear. Behind me the lake had drained fully - or actually not fully. I just saw how the water had moved to the sides like a bowl, so the bottom of the lake was visible to me - and Pruce didn't even look into the direction of the water. His eyes were fixed on me, like he was draining his strength of me, but I didn't feel any weaker. I didn't dare say anything - I would only interrupt him.

But I just couldn't stay silent. "Whoa."

It didn't distract him at all - the water stood as still and calm as Pruce had formed it by himself.

"How do you do that?"

"You keep on asking it," Pruce continued, lowering the surface of the water so it was in balance together. "By power of mind."

"And you don't even know your parent! I'm in the exactly same place as you are now... and still, I can only kill a couple of birds."

"The water is inside me."

I closed my eyes, thinking. I had believed Pruce would say something like that, but it still was so odd - I couldn't understand anything of what he was saying, who he was and how he did everything.

"Show me."

Pruce rose from the ground. Now he and I stood both there, staring at the clear surface of the lake, but the look in Pruce's eyes differed from mine so - they had inside them so much determination, knowledge - like he knew every particle of the water, like everything was part of him, and he didn't have to struggle at all to keep it in control, as Titus did. The look on his young face was calm - and as his eyes were so old the contrast was almost too visible. He knew everything of the water; his every movement, everything going on in his head... they were carefully thought.

As Pruce formed a huge funnel cloud, such like the one Titus had made, I could remember it imprinting into my sight as something irreversible, and staring at that wonder I woke up.

"Elea?" A familiar voice, familiar hands shook me. I could see Ivan laying right next to me, him sleeping calmly, without him seeing damn stupid demigod dreams. Someone was holding the torch and sitting in a chair towering above us, but the figure there wasn't awake, either. A smile spread on my face as I noticed it was Gracie - the flame burning in the torch seemed to move in the same rhythm she breathed.

I turned around, imagining I'd see Marié - she had probably seen some nightmare again.

"Where am I?"

Marié slept in the other corner of the room, a white aura glimmering around her fingers, her knees tightly pressed together, an expression of disgust... or fear on her face.

Pruce's hands were on my shoulders as I turned around - I felt like the biggest dejá vú of my life. It was odd for him to just be there, like he shouldn't belong. I blinked my eyes a couple of times, but there he just was, his eyes wide open, looking the way he always did. So young, yet so old.

"What is this place?"

I remembered sleeping Ivan again, how he and I had been here only the two of us, awake, a couple of seconds ago. Or minutes, or hours. Time didn't exist there, nor place, and though my world seemed like only an endless amount of possibilities, nothing more, I knew they all were real, as Pruce and I coming there, though I had just slept.

I closed my eyes again, remembering the photographs of rain Pruce had been staring - it was all totally real. He was a very strange person.

"This is Death Harbour," I examined the dark room, only lit by the torch Gracie was holding. It was crazy, she could just sleep holding that thing, her grip as tight as always. I was almost surprised she didn't break that into pieces with her mere touch.

"Death Harbor?" Pruce repeated, and silence rose upon the room again. I was afraid, so afraid, knowing we weren't surrounded by anything living. Out there, behind the closed doors, there were only dead spirits, a ghost city built by the hands of millions; hands of smoke. It almost reminded me of the Grey Siblings. How long had it been since that? My whole life spun now around our location, my friends and myself; I didn't think of time anymore.

"Remember the rivers, Pruce?" I must've been pretty tired there. My eyes were all red and I almost felt like laughing, I might've even been a little hysteric. "Alpheus, Acheron, Lethe, Styx... the _Phl_-thing."

"Phlegethon?"

Now I really laughed. He still did it!

"Alpheus is river Colorado."

"I _knew_ Alpheus is river Colorado!"

"...you really did?"

Pruce could sorta amuse me at times. He sounded so confident when saying it, and there was still this freaky glow in his 1000-year old eyes. "You really know all those? You even know freakin' _Styx?"_

"Don't swear, Elea."

Damn. Well, Pruce was one nice 12-year old. It was odd for me to hear something like that from his mouth - I had always kinda got this impression of Pruce as very quiet. That he had been when we had met. He had only spoken when something was asked of him, he had kept tilting his head and staring into the distances, like he was in his own world. That's why it was fun to talk to him; he knew so much but spoke so little, and listening to him speaking about the sharks and camels... it was odd. I started sorta missing stuff. Normal stuff, and my thoughts wondered to everything so everyday, like the dozens Angelfish my stepfather had at home, he even the damn had named those little things, though I never remembered them anyway.

"Why did Titus overpower you?"

Pruce woke up from his trance again. It didn't hurt so much to mention Titus anymore, and I didn't know why; it was easier for me to talk about him with Pruce than with Ivan. Gods, it was impossible to talk to Ivan about anything. He'd just start examining at my damn bag of drachmae and insulting Chiron.

"You ask too many questions," Pruce told, and then he went all silent like he wanted to silence me too, and I felt bad for it. I didn't want to sound like too nosy or anything, but Pruce... he was something that had interested me more than anything before, I could almost compare him into a cursed birthday present waiting for it's opening. He was a ticking time-bomb.

As I waited for like a five minutes and Pruce didn't still answer, I decided to let that be too. I let things be too often, it was one of my weaknesses, I guess. If they'd be useful to myself I'd do them right away, but if they involved someone else... I'd get too selfish then. I was a really bad person, when I really thought about it. Maybe I actually deserved a little journey to the Underworld, though seeing Hades freaked me out still... I had my own theories, and Hades... he had a certain role I'd leave unmentioned.

I bet if Gracie would've told me about her good-night sleep, she'd just explain it by telling she was staring at the flames and suddenly her eyelids started to droop, and whoa, she's asleep. She'd of course struck at least one _epic_ or _'that's not nice, not nice at all...'_ in some damn gap, but that was pretty much of the type of sleeper she was. It was odd, kinda me thinking about how other people slept. I always slept more than them and everything, but they always caught my attention, people sleeping. Like that Olivia Villa with her eyes open and Marié who looked so little as she was all wrapped up in the corner. Gracie was one of those types who could fall asleep just like that and their waking-routine was the exact same. If I'd whisper her name, or just rise up or something, she'd open her eyes. And without even being tired. I sorta envied her.

"Gracie?"

Well, I was at least right. My voice wasn't even loud; when I was whispering I always sounded pretty damn silent. "Eyes open, you got a _torch_ and everything."

As Gracie saw me being awake she quickly gazed left and right, checked even the cursed ceiling, like she was ashamed of falling asleep like that. "This isn't good at all!" I heard her say, and the torch seemed to dim to almost nothing. I couldn't even see Pruce anymore, though he sat all next to me.

"I hate dreams like these. They're so _real_ and then I notice something, like Pruce sitting next to you."

"You might have some serious sleeping-problems, but this isn't a dream," I smiled, thinking of how Gracie just sorta told me she always saw so realistic dreams she didn't get anything of them, "That's Pruce all right."

I saw Gracie's aura lighten as she seemed to notice Pruce. She though didn't say anything - I bet she still was kinda half-asleep. I'd have to think of some explanation soon, though. No-one understood the way I had the craziest demigod-dreams in the whole universe, and I bet they didn't believe it at all - not even when Ivan turned around with his eyes all open, telling he had been awake all the time. He had this maniac smile on his face and I almost regret I had brought Pruce there, but now everything was fine with the prophecy.

We all borrowed a couple of bullets from Gracie as we took a boat from Death Harbour. They didn't though work really well; I just heard everything so loud, as the ship floating next to ours like for half of the trip played that legend song by _The Carpenters_, this _Close To You_ or something. There was this couple wearing these old clothes from year _2000_ and I bet they were doing waltz or something as freaky there - like the Underworld would just be the next stop to show their awesome dancing skills.

I bet you've never seen anything like that, ever. Marié probably had her eyes closed the whole time, but Ivan and I, even Gracie, walked beneath the spirits as only fearless, a couple of questions on our mind of course. The biggest of them was probably the fact how could we actually sail on a ghost ship; and we actually could.

Our sacrifice was getting rid of our souls.

We still had them and everything, because I still believed I'd just lay there without an ability to do anything - because I sorta thought the senses were part of the soul, but I knew I had lost something. The cold breeze which had been locked inside me felt like it was unleashed as our ship jerked and left the shore, heading towards the river Alpheus. I had still a part of my soul, but something was permanently left behind there, and it worried me so. I only knew this wasn't Elea Collins anymore. I was heading towards my own destruction and saviour.

On our ship I could hear Kelly Clarkson, classical music and Marié's flute - though no-one played it.

The others could hear everything Pruce had ever thought, how my heart was sawed into two by Titus.

_They saw my every memory with Titus._


	17. SLAYING THE DREAMER

**PART 6: REASON**

SLAYING THE DREAMER

We were pirates within the Dead.

Everything reminded me of that one pirate song which had a name I never remembered, but they sang about the seven seas and everything, and when thinking of that, how my thoughts were wondering again, I started to compare Titus and Pruce again. It was one of the dumbest things I had ever done, because on that ship... well, as we were sorta... dying, our memories and thoughts were visible to everyone. It felt bad, almost inappropriate. Like I was the biggest stalker in the universe, and I wasn't Zacharias Stonehenge or anything. It was a miracle I actually could remember the damn guy's name anymore - from his stalking it had been so long too. I wondered what might have been happening at the camp right then - Zacharias must've been probably stalking Chiron grooming his freakin' tail and I bet the Nemesis cabin had tried to have their evil revenge on the Nike cabin or something. And the Ares cabin would've blown the cursed Hades cabin up - they were so bitter to us now that we had interrupted their good-night sleep on our last night on the camp. So long ago.

I didn't want to act like a stalker, totally not, but Ivan's memories... I had always wished to know about them. He had told of him and Viquel being chased by a Cyclops and them going on some quest by Nyx, but nothing more, and now as I could see everything more clear it was almost too interesting. It was so very odd, reading someone's mind - or seeing the memories. It was like all the memories on the ship tried to tangle up, mix up with each other, and to concentrate only to one's memories, it really took some work. Marié had some interesting memories too, but they were mostly about her life in Europe and her flute lessons, so I mainly focused on Ivan. It might've been that with time every memory becomes gold, but still... Viquel was very pretty. She had odd eyes - though she was a daughter of Iris, they were all the time dark brown, the same colour as her hair. I gazed at first at Ivan's memories even before he had came to the camp; how he ran away from some party (he must've been drunk or something, the whole picture was all hazy) and threw a couple of darts in the Cyclops eye (though he was drunk he was pretty damn good in throwing darts) and saved his step-mother; she was like straight from some Hollywood-film; blonde hair and this awesome tan - and thinking of things like that, seeing Florida in my mind... they seemed like something unreachable, now as we were on some freakin' ghost ship on the way to Death. As I moved further in Ivan's memories, started examining at him and Viquel, them leaving the camp (they got fine goodbyes and everything!) and moving off to the quest, they started to look almost too real, and familiar, too. They were stalked by a couple of pervert Cyclops constantly, just as the guys in the long jackets chased me on my every birthday. The time I knew Viquel wasn't going to survive on her battle against the Cyclops I closed my eyes and turned to Gracie - though I wanted some proof of Viquel really being dead and everything, I just couldn't watch that. It had been always hard for me to watch someone die, or going even close to death. I started memorizing of stuff like our chariot races - how Titus fell over from his chariot and nearly was overrun by the Nike chariot, all my fault. Though Ivan had claimed of me being not a murderer, I still felt like it.

So I dived into Gracie's mind. I noticed already then her being a little of a forgetting person - she didn't have pretty many memories and they all were sorta hazy. I though could see all her years in the Hephaestus cabin; this Zacharias boy had even stalked _her_ and _only her_. No wonder she didn't like him.

And lastly, I wished to see Pruce's... but nothing else I could see than darkness and the same memories I had already seen in my dream, the rain photographs and everything. He had a very complicated mind. I could never understand him.

And as I was so lost in the worlds of others, so deep in there I could see the world for a second as only black and white, I forgot my mind was available for the others to see too. As I saw Ivan looking straight through me, I closed my eyes, ashamed - I wasn't actually shamed of my memories, but the things I knew Ivan would ask me now as he knew. He would wake me in the middle of the night, as everyone else was sleeping, he'd start talking in his calming tone and he'd also probably threaten to murder Titus in the meantime. For a while I just wanted to _be,_ stay so very alone. I didn't though know was it exactly what I wanted, being alone. Maybe I just wanted silence, time to think. I'd want someone to be there, maybe someone I could look in the eyes like I always did. I started sorta missing Sofia, that old Quebec girl I always hanged out with in school. I wasn't tired anymore, but this time I only felt so lonely... so lonely and... I feared. The future was so open to me - and my mind was open to all the others sailing on that ship; maybe even the ones outside it. I felt vulnerable. The _close to you_-ship wasn't there anymore; we sailed all alone on the empty open, but I knew someone was watching me that moment.

Though it would be only from behind closed eyes.

_"I'm drowning, Ivan."_

I truly dreamed of death that night. I didn't know was that the first night, the second or the third... I hadn't been really counting days. I just actually knew I was drowning, and there was no-one willing to help me.

Too bad that was one of those damn stupid dreams. I knew it straight from how it didn't show anything new; Ivan even kept repeating stuff he had already told me, like his introduction: I am Ivan, the son of Nyx. Oh, gods, I _knew_ he was the son of Nyx. Why was I then so stupid to dream of a thing dumb like that?

I didn't see Gracie, nor Marié there. I bet Chiron might've been there; Ivan and him were arguing of should they save me or not. Finally Chiron and Ivan came to a conclusion (another tip of me knowing it was a dream - they'd _never_ come to a conclusion) and they decided to leave me be, just let me drown because I wasn't needing anyone else than Titus Silverheart, but his heart didn't beat anymore. I only knew this water would take me closer to him, but there was still a border between us, and though I'd sink so low I would become buried to the bottom of the sea, it wouldn't still be enough. I probably was screaming there, I dunno. I didn't really know what I actually looked like or did _while_ I was dreaming - the only thing important was what I did _in_ a dream.

I woke up shuddering, hugging myself. I soon noticed something odd, though. I really just... I really didn't understand it there. I can't understand it even _now._

Well, I wasn't really hugging myself there. I knew it because the hands around me were oddly warm compared to my body temperature and I never hugged myself when laying down. I really had slept badly the past nights - I didn't have even a freakin' bed.

I only knew Ivan was there, right behind me, his cursed _arms_ around me. I knew I should've freaked out right there, just like I had done when Gracie killed us by banging that super-thick steel door, but I only got the cold vibes and stayed there. I heard Ivan mumble something, and the thing in it was... well, if he would've been awake, I'd just tell him to go to Tartarus and get his damn hands off me, but he wasn't even awake, only sleeping, his eyes all closed. He didn't even snore. It was kinda surprising.

And for some reason I just let him hold me. I had my eyes open for the whole night - it was maybe four in the morning or something when I had woken up. I guessed it from because I could see Virgo in the sky. Though we were in the realm of the spirits, I still could spot the stars there; their light was only oddly distinguished, like they were covered with a dark cloth.

I imagined a couple of cicadas singing there, turned on my back and gazed at the stars shining, up from such heights.

Ivan held me, and constant currents of cold ran through my body. The breeze got stronger, but it was like some gates were holding it from spreading further.

* * *

I bet it was probably six when my eyelids started drooping again. Ivan was still sleeping, and I decided it must've been better to let go of him, so he wouldn't freak out when he wakes up. Too bad I couldn't read his thoughts, but moving further I started to go through his memories again; I saw pictures of Viquel, Viquel, and Viquel again.

This ship playing some really cheap-sounding punk rock-band started stalking us the time the sun started to rise. About then something really freaky happened, and I guessed the awful music they were playing somehow scared Pruce or something, because the second he woke up the whole damn ship _drowned._

I was probably the only one awake in addition to Pruce then, and I wasn't even sure was Pruce fully awake. His eyes were all red, and I had seen people talk in their sleep many times enough to tell he wasn't yet fully conscious. His eyes closed pretty much as soon as he had drowned the ship, and I really had to keep repeating that in my mind a couple of times before I could believe what I really saw. Well, the ship looked pretty light as it was made of smoke or something, but still... it was pretty much of a huge ship. Even huger than ours, and it was filled with these youngsters probably our age, maybe a little younger. The whole thing had gone down so fast I didn't have even time to look, but I kinda thought of it, still. They looked so young, and for a second I even decided to curse Hades (which wouldn't be very wise, when I later thought of it.) It felt so wrong, them going so young. Even I forgot it, now as I still could feel everything around me and our ship wasn't made of smoke, I forgot how young I myself was. If 15 isn't a young age, I'd just say... well, think twice. I wasn't only more than about two years older than Pruce, who looked and acted like a child, but had the soul of a grown-up. Should I even call it the soul of an immortal.

Pruce, who was unconscious for a day after drowning that ship. I feared then, but somehow I knew it wasn't the end for him. He had his own role in the prophecy, and there was one thing I was sure about it; I could never understand it - it was the hugest role in the cursed thing.

I just remember I couldn't sleep after that. My gaze only wandered around in that endless haze, and there, now that we had been sailing so long, I couldn't see very many ships. But there was one thing I could tell of them as I had stared at the details – each was different. The ships weren't really old because those people coming to Death Harbour had just died and there weren't many possibilities to get some ancient paddleboat as it was 2015, but the music they played differed a lot. It was so odd hearing some of those songs; one ship played the tune of the Twilight soundtrack (I bet the one maiden sailing on it had made suicide because Edward had never come) and listening to that I started longing to the past. If I would return there, would I lose anything? The things I had gained after Chiron had brought me to the camp... I couldn't yet tell were they irreplaceable. Would it be so different, back in Canada, doing all this normal stuff like going to school, returning my Adoption essay and being attacked by crows constantly? I could play that hockey game the guys I failed never got to play with me. I could still spend time with my angel mother, drink cans of coke, so many my teeth would turn so yellow they'd fall out, listen to my father hooraying for Pacman.

Why I couldn't wake up of this dream? I had seen so many dreams within, and yet it was impossible to return. Everything was too real to be true.

There, sailing to some place, us with no destination, so many of us were asleep. Ivan so deep in his dream he was unmovable like a statue. Marié twitched her normal way and Gracie... I didn't even see her there, she was so unnoticeable. Pruce was the only one waking up time after time, and as I asked him did he know the location he told we were soon at Grand Canyon, which kinda freaked me out, because Pruce wasn't even then awake, and the fact we had already crossed the seas without even me noticing... it must've happened some time I was asleep. The haze around us was so strong I couldn't see the shore. Or was that mist – covering the ships so mortals couldn't see us and believe there actually existed something as ghost ships?

I sorta started dreaming then. Thinking of all kinds of stuff, and on times like that, when my thoughts were wandering, I didn't even know anything about what was happening in the outer world. I must've just been leaning onto the sides of the ship and staring at the endless grey haze around us, not looking into the water, though, because it brought me stuff in mind.

I didn't even _know _how deep into my thoughts I actually could get lost! And the only reason I didn't stay there for a lifetime was Ivan. He had even woken up without me noticing. He just stood behind me, his back turned on me, and I guess he was quarrelling with someone. It wasn't Gracie or Marié though – Marié was still asleep seeing her nightmare, her aura blinking, and I just couldn't think a reason of Ivan getting mad to Gracie – if Ivan would be mad to her, she would've set the whole ship on fire, and that wasn't a very... good place to quarrel, should I say.

"Do not do anything reckless!"

For a second I actually thought Ivan had a second persona – he was arguing with this male voice which sounded almost like his but sorta more... old, and he spoke in that kind of slow way, like 'do not' and 'would have.' I took a couple of steps closer to him, but still in this unnoticeable way, because I sorta didn't want to interrupt Ivan with his... thing. But from that other angle I could see this picture in the air, and I was thankful someone had explained me the idea of Powerpoint, because Ivan was just going through an Iris message there. I had never actually seen one, and the only reason I actually understood it as an Iris message was because Pruce sat there, next to Ivan, with a bored expression on his face, but there was this fountain of water sprouting from his side and all over the ship so it formed this rainbow in the air, and I just knew it was Pruce controlling it. And in the fountain I could see Chiron's face – he looked different since I had last seen him; it was like he had grown some winter fur.

Ivan stared at him sorta disgusted. "You never trust me, Chiron! You only lie doing that, and the only reason you actually let me on this quest is because of Viquel!"  
As Chiron said the next words I winched. "Not because of her," Chiron answered, looking straight into Ivan's direction, and I sorta turned around so Chiron couldn't see I wasn't peeking, but still listened at the conversation. "I only felt it would be reasonable to let you lead Elea. I have never thought of you and Viquel as a good combination. Your idea of vengeance on those Cyclops is ridiculous – and you cannot raise her from the dead, either. You should not count on something you know will not come true. It is against the _laws _of Mother Gaia to return someone under Earth, against the rules of the Lord of the Dead..."  
"How do you know?" Ivan spat the words so fast, as if he would have wanted to say them already before any of Chiron's words. "Every tutor... every teacher... they always think they are more wise than us! I do know everything you have said, Chiron! I am not dumb – but aren't rules _made _to be broken? And you only think you can control me because you are a stinkin', ancient Centaur braiding his TAIL!"

I couldn't see Chiron, but I bet he covered his eyes with his palm. He always did stuff like that. "Ivan, Ivan..." he kept whispering, and I guess I even heard Pruce _yawn – _and after Chiron had repeated Ivan's name for like a 10 times, he finally sighed and continued.

"I have been young once, too."

Then I saw him, from the corner of my eye, wiping the screen, and after this zapping sound the whole rainbow disappeared, with Chiron on it, and now I could see the last rays of sunshine glimmer through the thin haze surrounding us – before we dissolved into complete blackness.

"Turn around, Elea. I know you are listening. My senses sharpen in the dark, you know."

I sighed. This time the only reason I could see anything and actually move somewhere without Ivan holding my hand was Ivan's aura – it was so bright it lit up the whole ship. Now I even could see Gracie. She wasn't asleep anymore, but just sitting very quietly in the front of our ship, her gaze fixed straight forward.

"Do you believe him?"

As I came to Ivan he winched back hearing my words, his face filled with hatred. "You even _dare _ask something like that! He doesn't know anything, nothing more than I do."

I guess I would've wanted to rely on the fact Chiron was like a millennia older than Ivan, but he would've killed me of doing that. But thinking of things like that – like Ivan _killing _me, I seriously freaked out.

"Where are we?"

Ivan rolled his eyes. "Eternal darkness, my blade glows blue sharp, you can't read my _memories _anymore... a ten letter word, guess what?"  
"The Underworld?"

Ivan nodded, very slowly. "I believe you are right. River Alpheus, the beginning. The part of it underground.

We are half dead."  
My knees didn't give in, thank gods. But I just knew I must've looked pretty terrified – my gaze moving from Pruce to Ivan so fast – it brought me in mind another scene which had been pretty much just like that; and only thinking of it gave me so many new thoughts my head felt like bursting. I had still my reason...

but not for long.

"I hate myself."

That was Ivan's voice. I stared at him with wide eyes, and for a second I feared he was going to jump over from our ship as he ran to the edge of our raft, but coming there he only leaned over, taking a very deep breath.

Then he started screaming, straight into the empty, cold air, so his voice echoed of the walls like there were thousands of him yelling like that. He took breaths and everything in the middle of that, and then I just thought... maybe it was good for him. He had faced a lot, too. Screaming like that had never worked for me, though. So I turned to Pruce, whose gaze was fixed on the ceiling of the pitch-black tunnel we were drifting in, and I saw he was concentrating very deeply.

"I am bored," he told me, and I sat right next to him – so he could be the taller one for once.

"Bored? Not even tired? I can _see _you are focusing on something... but you don't even seem to struggle – like that thing you did with the rainbow-"

"Squirted a little water?" Pruce almost laughed. That was the difference with him and Titus; he was so happy all the time. "Come on, I wasn't even serious. _Everyone can do that, _it doesn't even light up my aura."

I bit my lips listening to Pruce's pervert comments. Ivan was probably still screaming there, but now his voice was all sore and he was coughing there like his throat was burning. His aura shone still so brightly – and I was frightened of the way how well his senses were working there in the dark. He had known I was listening before. Did he have like an extra pair of ears or something? Or eyes in the back of his head?

Suddenly another frightened voice filled the air. I bet it was the thing which made Ivan quit the slaughter of his voice, because he turned around like paranoid, looking at Marié, who had just woken up, screaming.

"What in the world are you dreaming of?" Ivan coughed his voice all raspy. "You don't even _have_ bad memories."  
Marié squinted her eyes. "Oh, yeah. We could read other's _memories."_

I bit my lips, again. It was odd how they didn't even dehydrate anymore – or if they did, I didn't even mind. Marié didn't seem to have noticed me yet, it was so dark and everything, so I decided to change the topic quickly, so she wouldn't start asking... _stuff._

"Marié, please. Tell me you have a crush on Fredrick Hayes. You dream of him all the time. And the snakes inside your caduceus turning against you."

Marié's jaw seemed to drop. Then I turned to Ivan, listening how he was fixing his throat, and he stared at me so thoroughly it almost scared me.

"Forgive me."

Then he turned around again, screaming even more, like he was trying to get rid of his voice fully. Marié rose up, very slowly, looking absolutely drowsy – anyway, she had slept like 48 hours straight. Paranoidly, she asked me to come to her, maybe because she didn't really like this darkness. "Don't go shouting stuff like that!" She mumbled, looking around for her caduceus. "Honestly, I don't even _know."_

It was sorta odd. I had kinda thought of Marié as an open person, but maybe being half dead brought out new sides of her. I sorta leaned on her as we sat on the side of the ship, staring at Ivan. He was very, very strange. I didn't even feel pity for him, but still... I wanted to run with him, run so long I would spit blood, jump into the River Styx holding hands and being burned by that acid... I wanted to do _anything. _I noticed I was gnashing my teeth so they hurt, pressing my nails into my palms, hard and rough. I wanted to tear him apart and let him do the same to me. I bleed.


	18. WE GO TO HELL

**PART 6: REASON**

WE GO TO HELL

Marie leaned next to me, as we both sat down in the endless darkness.

"How did you _know?" _She whispered, very quiet, and though I bleed, I kept on pressing my nails so hard they sunk into my skin. "That was exactly what I dreamed of."  
"A wild guess?" I shrugged my shoulders, but Marié wrinkled her light eyebrows.

"You need to stop lying to yourself," she told, but rose then up, walking to Gracie, who had been lonely for so a long time. Ivan wasn't shouting anymore. I bet his voice had gone all away; so I came to his side, so he turned around.

"You finally quit that slaughter?"

Ivan nodded his head. "Finally," he coughed, but it was a mere whisper I could hear.

I bit my lips again. "Ivan..." I raised my head, turning towards him – and he raised his eyebrows. I know it was just _mean _to ask him to talk now that he just couldn't, but... it was only little compared to the bad stuff I had done.

"Do you... what do you feel?"  
"Ivan stared through me for a second. He probably hadn't understood my question. "From what?" He asked, and started coughing again.

"About... what you have seen."  
"Your memories?" He took a long pause then. Now that it was so empty we couldn't hear anything but the sound of the river, it made me feel anxious. He closed his eyes, leaning onto the side of the ship again.

"Wish you looked through his memories."

Then he turned silent, and I noticed my fingers were twitching like Marié's, as if I was preventing myself of doing something. This time I hugged myself again, but instead of the tender way I always did it, I pressed my nails to my arms – I wanted to imprint the mark of my hatred everywhere.

I quickly gazed at Ivan. I wished so I could read his mind! I didn't even understand where that feeling came from – like I was just wanting to turn into a horrible stalker. But just looking at him... he was one of those people who I just had to know of, because I felt there was something important in their mind I had to know.

I remembered the memories Ivan had of Viquel. If I would have the access to his mind... was Viquel the only one he was thinking of? Still hazily I could see her picture; a girl with long, chocolate-coloured hair and her pretty rainbow dress. For some reason I found myself groping my ponytail or something – and without even thinking I let my hair loose though I thought it was so ugly. It was just... well, I wasn't even sure was it _curly _or _straight... _should I even say it was a mixture of both – I had tons of straight hair, but then the curls tried to come out time after time. I turned my face away from Ivan, like if he would notice, but now I couldn't see his face as I walked away. Did I remind him of Viquel?

I was still thinking of the dream I had, me drowning and Ivan and Chiron not helping me. I wished for it to continue, so I could see what would happen next, but here, in the Realm of The Dead, I couldn't dream.

I could nor rest, because we had come to our destination; the tunnel had been light up step by step, so we hadn't even noticed it, but now it was definitely visible. I could see how the water in Alpheus was still clean, but now we had come to a huge marsh – and faraway I could see other rivers... they were so polluted, how come?

At least there weren't souls swimming there, like in Hercules. But this time I was about a hundred times more scared than when watching the film, because now I knew where we were. Our sky was the ceiling of a gigantic cave – so tall and so wide I couldn't never understand it, and the earth was only water – on the marsh with no souls... except ours.

"What's that?" I heard Marié winch, distinguishedly, because there was this odd sound in the air – kinda like my ears would have been ringing, but it was sorta more harsh, like _someone_ or _something_ was making that noise. "There, far away..."

I had to squint my eyes to see. From that side of the ship it was hard to see, so I walked to Marié and Gracie, the silent ones.

"Styx," someone answered, but it was neither of us. I only could tell it was Pruce – he was an expert in stuff like this. "That's the raft... oh, how I have wished to see this."  
Ivan came to us too. "With the famous ferryman?" He asked, and the whole situation was kinda corny – like Charon, this guy sailing the souls to the Underworld, would have been some freakin' celebrity. I couldn't see him, though, not even the raft – or if I could, it was only a tiny spot in the horizon. Marié though seemed to have no problems with it at all. For such a tiny person she had a good sight. Ivan seemed to see it too; it wasn't very light there anyway, and he had his cat-eyes. Gracie didn't even bother to watch; I bet even I was blurry to her in that darkness.

"I can't believe this," Marié continued, her aura lighting up the whole ship. "We're already there."  
"And not in the end, certainly," Ivan sighed. "I would've gladly ended it all already. You know, this is so odd to me, too... all the wonders on this journey – like how does this ship move, as there is no-one sailing it..."  
Ivan turned to Pruce, but he answered nothing; even he didn't know the reason to these ships moving towards the Underworld. And even Pruce knew that we couldn't sail forever, and somewhere we should jump off – we were only unsure of _where._

"Wait," Pruce told us, and without resistance, we obeyed, and slowly approached the deepest of the Underworld.

The Prophecy started to move along just about then. One part of it had already come true, _five shall travel through the forbidden waters. _It hadn't been like a 5 seconds since Pruce's 'wait' or then it had just felt like a very short time – we had came to probably the edge of the marsh already, when we already were jumping off. And it wasn't only Pruce who knew it. Marié noticed it too – just because she seemed to be sinking _through _the ship. We dragged her up, or at least tried. The only thing hard in it was that we seemed to be sinking too; the whole ship was turning to smoke, dissolving away, we still on board.

"What river that is below us?" I remembered Ivan shout with his hoarse voice, Pruce answering – I wasn't sure what he actually said, but from all my heart I just hoped it wasn't Styx. I heard Marié yell like a madman; gods, she was half _crying – _her feet hadn't sunken through the floor yet, but fastly they did. I bet she screamed "Hold me!" – it was hard to tell her words from between her tears. "Pruce! You know what to do! Hold my _head _or something! I'll at least have my _Achilles head!"_

"That makes no sense!" Ivan pressed his nails into Marié's flesh – for a guy, he had sorta long nails. "Can't you make some power barrier? Or call help from Maia? You're a daughter of the damn _Hermes!"_

His last words echoed awfully, and I thought Marié flashed him her middle finger or something – I would've done that too in that situation; me sinking through the floor and even Ivan, the freakin' professor, unable to help.  
Gracie seemed mostly calm, if her horrid expression didn't count – it was probably because of her Marié didn't sink through the floor, she was so strong. It was like watching a lightshow, everyone's aura flashing like they had this competition of which shone the brightest.

"This is the prophecy", Marié gasped. "About one of us having the end of our calling! That's me!"  
"That is _not _you," I tried to calm her. It was so hard, comforting someone. But I had never been so close to any of my friends dying. If I didn't count one...

Ivan, Gracie, Marié, I... we all seemed to argue, calm each other down, all in the same time, and only Pruce stood silent – because he wasn't there.

For a second my concentration failed. I turned to where Pruce had stood, but he was gone, so I followed the light, looking for Pruce's cyan glow. Marié's though shone so bright I couldn't see it, but I... _felt it._

An echoing yell pierced the air. It reminded me of the time we had been by the lake – that time I was sure... someone had yelled that exactly same way.

_You're a freak! _The sounds of the lake carried to my ears. _You shouldn't even exist!_

But Pruce did, and he was very, very alive.

I couldn't even _see _him, due his aura was so bright. I only saw his outline, glowing so brightly cyan I was sure it was a new shade – he had just invented it. I watched him clutch his fists, but very slowly, each finger at the time, because it seemed like an awful struggle – and I saw the waters of River Styx being pulled over, our ship moving closer to the shore so far away, the whole cave rumbling as Pruce shook it with force.

We came to the shore, jumping off the ship, Marié panting. We landed off far from Pruce, closing our eyes, because the brightness was too much for us to bear, but I somehow knew I shouldn't just stand there, my eyes closed. This odd thing happened... or I didn't actually _know _was it odd, because I was pretty sure it had happened before too – I was pretty sure my eyes were closed, but still I could see, but this time not as bright, how Pruce shone controlling the water, but unable to stop – I feared he would be hurt like before, like... when Titus arrived.

"You need to stop, Pruce!" I heard myself yell, and my voice was lonely in the cave, like there was no-one else. "Don't do this to me, again."

He was trembling, and his clutched fists shook like he had drank a hundred cups of espresso, but with an awfully serious expression, and I felt terrifying fear. If I would have known who was his godly parent I would have known how to help him, how he could help himself, but he was only unclaimed, a lost child with powers he didn't understand.

And then he suddenly stopped trembling, but glowed still as a god; and turned to me. His eyes glowed like Rachel's, the oracle's when she told me the prophecy, like Ivan's at night.

"Open your eyes, Elea," he told me, with a voice which wasn't his. It was like someone was speaking _through _him. "This is only your dream, isn't it?"

I coughed, shuddered and woke up.

This time Pruce wasn't gone, neither any of us was unconscious, but we all stood in a row on the shore of River Styx, looking into endless darkness filled with hopeless whispers, and the only similarity to what was happening before was the earth still shaking.

Ivan seemed to somehow sense the incomer. He armed himself already like a minute before, and due his actions we soon followed him; I had never seen Gracie with that many weapons – her small shield was tied to her wrist, in which she also carried her golden nunchuks, and in her other hand she held her light sword. Over her shoulder hung a golden rope, which first looked like a whip to me. She looked _hardcore,_ curses! But nothing compared to what we soon saw.

Gracie almost the damn _bowed _when a loud figure approached from the darkness. I couldn't tell what was the direction, exactly, but before we could even say HADES we were staring at an awfully huge chariot – the ones on the camp were _nothing _compared to that. This one we were facing was like thrice the size of the Hephaestus chariot (which was the largest) and about twenty times as scary as the Nemesis chariot. The horses pulling it seemed... dead – they were only black smoke with fire in their eyes, and pulling the reins was a man about 25; he had olive skin and he wore this dark _robe _or something, he had the aura almost worthy of Pruce. I stared into his godly face unbelievingly – the expression showed extreme determination, and his eyes were like an endless, dark tunnel into the past.

I did something very odd then. I blinked my eyes like a dozen of times, still unbelieving, but everything I saw in him... the way I saw his _soul – _I opened my eyes and called; "Father."

His dark eyes squinted, and the way he sat in that three-metre height chariot looking downward to us was almost scary – I bet Marié feared death. Her aura was barely visible.

"I am," the rider began, and for a second I almost wanted to run to his neck and hug him or something, or then murder him, either way (though I was a little puzzled of _how _was that possible). "The Lord of Spirits."

I shook my head as Ivan and Gracie whispered the next words in a single breath. "Nico Di Angelo."

I coughed, embarrassed. "I'm sorry," I found myself saying, maybe, because it was pretty inappropriate to call my eh... potential half-brother my father. Thinking of those words seemed to open thousands of new doors. "Are my siblings here?"

Nico Di Angelo was unable to read as he thought about the question. I didn't know how I actually saw him – snobby and proud, looking downward to us, or only shy, closed. It though took sure long for him to answer me.  
"Yes," his voice carried through the emptiness as very powerful, but it seemed like it got quieter with each syllable. "And no."  
I rolled my eyes. What a guy!  
"Your aura..." he spoke, rising up and coming down from his chariot. I imagined he would have continued still, but he was only very silent. And then I understood the silence told more than any of his words could. His aura... it was black.  
"Do you know the true story?" I asked him, and his gaze moved to the darkness in the distance. He seemed to see up there, too.

"I will ride you to my father. Except the son of the one, who is not a god."  
Nico Di Angelo's sharp gaze pierced Pruce, and I felt a wave of cold within – I sorta knew what he spoke of, but sorta didn't – and decided to just not think about it.

"My father will slay you for coming here. Stay."

"W-what?" Marié started twitching again. She had calmed down a little, thank gods – but her eyes were all red. "No, Pruce! We can't leave him here with the... dead!"  
"From what on have the dead been evil?" Nico Di Angelo continued. "They are not for us to fear. The only one you should fear this moment is me."

We all exactly knew what he was talking about. Marié swallowed, looking at the Lord of Spirits pleadingly, but with fear; a different way like us others – not with respect and fear.

"I must warn you, wanderer." Nico Di Angelo looked at Pruce again. "Stay. Do not touch the River Styx, not even in death danger."

And with those words he left with us on his chariot – telling me the story of my family.

* * *

"I have been waiting to hear this."

"And it is what my father and uncle speak of. My father has forbidden his name to be said here – this is already the second incident between them in such a little time. Usually they quarrel once in a hundred years."  
I wrinkled my eyebrows at Nico Di Angelo. "That's pretty little, isn't it?"

"To human eyes it is. And though I am still a demigod, I have lived on this earth long enough to understand how many years it does count, but still unable to understand the meaning of immortality."

"I do envy you, Lord of Spirits!" I heard Gracie squeal somewhere behind us – she the damn almost worshipped this dude. "All these years, and you have still stayed alive."  
I swallowed. For a couple of times I had already learned how dangerous the life of one of my kind was, prophecies, quests, monsters... how young we died! Viquel, she had been only 14. It was probably the average age of dying demigods. Oh, and I was dead too. Sort of.

"I have the experience of one war and a multiple amount of quests. My father has taught me lots. Without good weapons, this skill, my experience, I would lay among the dead with my sibling from my mother's side."  
All around me, everyone seemed to know what the Lord of Spirits was speaking of. Thinking of him like that... not speaking of him with name, but of title, it gave him like a hundred thousand experience points. It was very disturbing.

"And without experience, you will die too."

These words he told to me, and only me. I kinda knew what he was speaking about, and due that I decided to stay perfectly silent. I didn't want him to give me _advice _or anything – I just wanted to hear what was the whole thing with my mother and why in the world they had chosen me and only me as their target. I was a chess piece in this game of the gods.

"For now, you are safe. My father still has the stronger odds than my uncle does. Is it spoken... do not take this as a shock, of your mother having met two gods in such a little period of time... and that is rare. If it happens, the child usually dies young, and on the camp I never found home... I believe the only coincidence being compared to this is when the Mallory siblings were born, with the same mother but with two godly parents, Apollo and Hermes... but the period between them was six years, and nothing came out of it. Your situation though, it is difficult and very different."

I sorta hated the way Nico Di Angelo spoke. He had this very slow speech, like he had all the time in the universe – he kept on pausing and nodding his head and staring into the darkness; he had such a powerful dark aura, that it made everything around us hazy, and I saw nowhere but where we were, me, him and us.

"My father claims you to be his daughter, but yet doesn't claim my uncle to be totally wrong. The story tells... that uncle found your mother too, already before my father did, but treated your mother wrong, left her, and when my father got to know of her and your uncle... about the child yet unborn, he wanted to end the misfortune. Your mother lost the child, but was unaware, and you, the child of her and my father, were forgotten, due he _wanted _to forget everything. The memory of an immortal has boundaries, and though every immortal is so old, they tend to forget events happening repeatedly... such as them having new children. It does happen unfortunately often..."  
I stayed silent for a second. "That is what they tell?"

And I left the sentence there. I maybe would have wanted to continue, but I didn't – probably, because I really didn't know what to do, say... or think. This was just like when Marié thought my mother was a _stripper_ or something; and now, the question was back in my mind. I wanted to know everything, and now that I knew most, I wanted to take it all back, return to the times of ignorance.

"That is... what they believe."

And suddenly, after those words, our pace seemed to slow down a little. The chariot stopped to a place which reminded me of one of those old fairytales with the castle of a princess and the castle of an evil wizard or something – and this was the evil one. Where we stood it was awfully silent, not anything like I had imagined the place. I had imagined like a million souls would be howling there. But death... this was death itself. Silence.

Nico Di Angelo let go of the reins and jumped off, taking a quick gaze around. His aura wasn't as visible anymore, and when thinking of it... now, I couldn't see it at all, nor any of the ones around my friends. Did that mean we were losing our lives, the Fates were already about to cut the strings keeping us alive?

"This is the palace of my father's. We have taken a detour to avoid us being seen by the dead."

Ivan's face seemed to turn somehow darker, as if what Nico Di Angelo had done would have been wrong – and I understood him. If we would have gone right through from the gates of the Underworld, passed the hell-hounds and everything, Ivan would be already roaming around on the Fields of Punishment, whatever they were, searching for Viquel.

Led by the son of Hades, we came through the back-door of the palace, into a dark room filled with guarding skeletons such as in the tower of Death Harbour, but this time these were armed and... asleep. I felt nervous when walking there; each step we were approaching my final destination, the moment which would determine my fate. The prophecy wasn't even solved yet; there was no-one actually dead, no sacrifice, nothing. Not yet.

Lanterns started to light up as we approached the deepest of the castle, and for a second I thought Gracie had something to do with it, but the fire in them... well, it was deep green like they were burning some weird alchemist powders. The silence was the most disturbing of all – we only heard Nico Di Angelo's loud and sharp footsteps and us breathing. It was almost freaky, because every breath could have been the last.

"I wonder is Pruce fine..." I heard Marié whisper right next to me, as pale as she had been since Death Harbour. "Why did-"  
"Silence!" Nico Di Angelo hissed, interrupting Marié. "The walls have ears, and the name of your friend shall not be mentioned here, nor my uncle's."  
Marié turned silent, abruptly. She was just like everyone else, wondering. And though we were so willing to know the reason of his name been forbidden, we said nothing, and often, it was common to turn silent, when we should have spoken.

In all that darkness, we couldn't see where we were walking, but heard everything – tiny footsteps, maybe whispering. It may have been our paranoidness, but it seriously freaked us out. Anyway, who could have _moved _like that here, among the dead? I believe Ivan saw everything, his eyes glowed again, but he told us nothing; the presence of something... greater there seemed to silence us all.

The gates of the room of my destiny opened silent, and very unnoticed. I only could tell a brighter light lit the room up, but it came horribly cold, and I could smell this odd scent, like some flower. I thought we had came to a secret garden or some room which would bring us back all our memories, including all the wonderful scents and not-so-lovely smells. And then I heard a voice.

"How many times have I forbidden you from using the back door?"

I felt the cold vibes running on my spine. I couldn't tell what it was with that voice, but it made the rest of us shudder – only Nico Di Angelo seemed to know it too well, and I almost clung onto him as we moved on to the next room.

There, firstly, I heard this THUMP. It brought me back the moment at the camp when we, together, moved towards the cabins, when I had just heard the prophecy, and how Gracie had tripped over to some tree trunk. But this time... it was Marié.

"She is so willing to sleep."

Marié had taken a peek – and was the first to see something very freaky. It brought me the colds, too, but thank _gods _I didn't faint. Gracie neither, and it surprised me, but this time she didn't see blood or anything. Bones... just bones.

There was this HUGE throne made of bones. Next to it there was another, made for this creature the height of a lamppost – all silver, reminding me of some flower. There was also a third throne next to the bony one, and I saw Nico Di Angelo sit on it, and thankfully, he wasn't the size of those two there, and the contrast sorta amused me, so I didn't really fear anymore. I couldn't say what I felt that moment...

I'd just say whoa.

Then I saw this kid, like a 6-year old or something, a boy with auburn hair and very dark eyes, run across the room his head down. What was he, a servant or something? He wasn't even _dead – _and he had a dark aura, like I had seen on Nico Di Angelo, except more dim.

"Persephone, if you please."

I winched back like a ten feet, as the huge figure rose up from the silver, flower throne. She was very beautiful; she reminded me of some fairy. Her hair was down to her waist and had petals in it – the goddess of springtime. I saw her sorta shrink into normal size and take hold of the little boy's hand, she called her Pablo. Persephone and he left the room, and I saw the Lord of the Dead gaze at her queen in an odd way – like he was struggling with the fact did he love her.

"And now, you."

I think Nico Di Angelo winked to us or something, because that second Ivan took a few steps back and made a deep bow – Gracie did the same, but shaking, and Marié... well, she was already down in the ground all the way due she had fallen unconscious. I sorta kneeled, fearing to look into the god's eyes, like he would blow me into bits if I did it.

"Father."

Nico Di Angelo looked oddly puzzled, but said or did nothing, and I finally dared to rise up, move my gaze. I hadn't yet looked at the Lord of the Dead closely, but now I could see him. Black hair, eyes of the same colour, ivory skin. He had the same sort of royal features all the other gods had, and now I could finally see the similarity between him and Nico Di Angelo. The only difference was in their skin colour.

"That is... what I believe."

He spoke in this slow way, just like Nico Di Angelo, but sort of more menacingly, even dangerously. He was like the first god I had ever actually met, if Persephone didn't count, and now I finally understood everything. Everything I had ever learned of this world had been a lie. So was I.

"Finally, I get to see you close. Odd to say..." he kept this awfully long pause and leaned over to see me closer, "You do not look familiar. What was the name of your mother?"

I knew, that in a normal solution, I would have strangled my father; he didn't even know my mother's _name. _I though feared to think of anything like this; maybe he could read thoughts like Chiron did. There was this _slight _difference in there. I just knew that I _couldn't _strangle him; I couldn't even throw a freakin' pencil at him, without me getting killed already beforehand.

"Ash. Ash Collins."

I saw him think about it. He had this slight wrinkle on his forehead, which I had seen on people like Chiron when they really had something on their mind, and anyway, Chiron was sorta Hades' _brother – _they anyway had the same father.

"You came all the way... to prove me something, a prophecy given by _the oracle." _

His last words gave me the worst shivers of my life, like I had been just shocked by lightning or something – my brain seemed to freeze and my insides seemed to change their location. I didn't really know what he had against Rachel Elizabeth Dare or the oracle in usual, but it must've been _very _mean.

"I must say, you chose the wrong way. My brother is the one here needing reason – he has been mad since the beginning of _everything."_

Then Hades turned around so fast I couldn't tell was that a motion at all – like there had been this sequence of three pictures, and the one in the middle had been taken out. Now he stood right in front of me, towering twice the height of Gracie, scanning us all through very coldly. There was though something in him, which made me still see humanity in him; the way his fingers kept on twitching, tapping the armrests of his bony chair as he sat. I saw him gaze even at Marié, so unreadable.

"You have chosen death."

I closed my eyes, waiting to get blown into atoms or something (and surprisingly due my ADHD, I started to really wonder how cool that would feel like), but nothing happened. I only saw him looking very puzzled, unmovable as a statue. He looked at me. The way my aura... sorta flamed.

"This... is rare for one of my descendants."

I showed no resistance, as he raised his hand to touch my aura. It flamed around me so thick it looked like I had an extra, purple pair of hands, an extra pair of me. Again, the fingers only pierced it like there was nothing, but I felt this odd jerk within, like someone had just struck some hook through me, straight into my soul, pulling it up like trying to capture the soul, but unable. I stared into his eyes, with fear, and this time I saw them close – they were very brown, but had these odd-coloured spots in them, like black and _violet – _it made him look either like a madman or a genius. And his hair... it was black as mine in birth, and nothing could explain the way my hair changed its colour. These pictures seemed to flash in his eyes; pictures of happenings I shouldn't even _know _of – armies of skeletons, dead souls, armies of _people – _war, terror, death – inhumane chariots circling an invisible force moving in the clouds, dark ancient times, temples, the empty earth; life before human.

I saw him pull back, very slowly, and sit down in his bony throne again, and suddenly I did something I totally shouldn't have. Even closing my eyes those pictures moved there – and I recognised Ivan, Gracie, Marié and Pruce, and the ones lost, Titus, Viquel... the dreams I had seen of them.

I took the last bow on Hades, glancing at Nico Di Angelo, his demigod son. I saw Hades' expression darkening already before my words.

"Show me my father. I am the daughter of Morpheus, the god of Dreams."


	19. DEEP SLEEP

**PART 7: LIGHT**

DEEP SLEEP

Η αρχή.

The beginning.

* * *

The only reason I actually remembered his name, was us having mattresses of that brand at home.

This dark shadow fell upon us, and for a second I regret my words more than anything I had ever said or done. There were two things I was completely sure of then.

The Lord of the Dead couldn't possibly be my father.

He didn't think positively of my opinion.

"So..." he began, oddly calm and quiet, but this menacing brightness in his eyes. Before this, I had felt like it was me, him, Ivan, Gracie, Marié... Pruce. But now, though my friends were in grave danger – I didn't even want to think about the threats Nico Di Angelo told Pruce – Marié lay unconscious in the god's feet, maybe forever, and Gracie and Ivan were reading their silent prayers, holding their heads, as if that would prevent them from being blown into atoms by Hades' mere look. And though all this... I felt like it was only between me and the god who had fooled me – and who I had fooled.

"Daughter of Morpheus." And then, he just sat there so silent for a while, and thinking of what I had done, I didn't even _know _how. I started to slowly believe this was again a part of my life-long dream, those dreams which had turned into reality... and though I would have wished to call my father and help me, this time I couldn't dream my way out. The dead never slept.

"Show me my father."

I believed Hades would have had something to say; maybe some curse to turn us into one of those freaky souls his robe was made out of, but still, I began. He was so dead silent still, and to me he seemed so different than I had imagined. In Hercules, he had been this evil guy who spoke so fast I needed subtitles to understand him, but the _real _Hades... well, his hair wasn't on fire, that's what I could see first. And though I didn't have a way to see to his soul, because he was so _inhumane, _I could tell he wasn't willing to fight; he was only tired and very, very old. The only thing I currently feared in him was his superior strength; he had this invisible aura of power, which reached so far I couldn't feel the boundaries.

"Your father..." his fingers stopped tapping the armrests for a second; there was a ring in my ears in that silence. I could see Hades was thinking – his gaze was fixed somewhere, into the distance, like he was memorizing the past. Considering the fact he was a god, it took awfully long, and when he finally remembered, he turned to look at me straight in the eyes – I could finally feel his power fully; he had these dark shadows below his eyes, and my blood froze as his gaze pierced me like he could see _through _me.

"I can see him in you," he stated, and from the mirror in his dark eyes I saw my reflection – almost translucent, so vulnerable. "Though he faces these worlds in endless sleep, his spirit lives through you."

"What do you mean?" A clear voice filled the air. But it wasn't mine – and seeing how Ivan stepped out from the sides of the picture, out of the shadows, my little bubble I shared with Hades popped. I saw the Lord of the Dead loosen his grip on the armrests, and he sighed.

"The boy who lives in my cabin. You have brought a fairly large amount of dead to my realm, haven't you?"

I saw Ivan turn pale, and the way the corner of his mouth was jerking told me Hades should say no more. "Viquel Chesapeake. She walks this world, and a thousand years it does take for you to find her – the price for losing her."

Gracie and I winched, as Ivan suddenly bended over like he was about to spit blood, his eyes showed silent pain. He almost collapsed on the floor, and as I leaned to help him, his eyes started to glow the cat-way again, and the room turned mysteriously dark. I saw how Ivan tried to raise his hand, his feet too – he tried to run towards Hades, strangle him if possible, but Hades already knew it, before Ivan even could open his mouth.

I closed my eyes, wishing for it all to end, now that my friends also had to suffer. _Let him go, _those were the words I repeated in my mind, wishing for Hades to read them, to only let us be, tell the reason. As Ivan quit his tries to slay the Lord of the Dead himself, I sighed of relief. I wanted to see no duel between a god and human.

And he turned to me.

"If you truly are the daughter of Morpheus..."

Then he was silent again, staring at Ivan, and continued. "You use the power of _dream."_

"These demigods use their mental abilities more than is needed," Nico Di Angelo stated – his father seemed to nod, but so fast, I bet mortal eyes couldn't see it.

"They die so young," Hades told, but his voice was very silent, very dim. "But for this one... she has prevented you."  
"Show me my father," I repeated, not caring of how well Hades had already got it – I had said it like thrice. It was impossible for me to read him, but this time I could tell he was up to something.

"But are you _truly _a daughter of Morpheus? Did you dream your way here... too?"

I winched, thinking of all I had to sacrifice because of my own decisions. "Halfway."

"Is that so?" Hades raised his eyebrows. That must've been some expression learned from the _Titans, _curse that – every god and every demigod knew it. "Can you... find him?"

And suddenly it turned all dark, so I feared more than ever – it was impossible for me to tell where I was, because I saw or heard nothing. It was like the time when Titus... had tried to kill me. I still didn't understand what I had done then, but I had seen something through my closed eyes; a barrier, like I had pushed the water from me with the power of my mind, or just slept away. I heard me yelling the names of my friends, but there was no-one to hold my hand, and I was only alone in darkness, in a silent world.

This time there was no way to open my eyes and awake. I looked around for the invisible staircase, my way up and out – nothing showed up, the blackness reached my senses.

But I could hear. I could hear too much – the sound of my breathing so heavy, and whispers – from all around me; just like the time when we had been in Death Harbour, so many souls, but no possibility to hear all of them. And I... found myself on an endless, grey meadow, with so many residents and so much room... it horrified me. It was like this sight of flat, never-ending lowland, this place which had a long name Ivan had told me once... and if I only would be a daughter of Hades, I would know the name of this place – and what was the meaning of it.

Over me the heavens seemed to hover – the roof of the cave, so high it was like a second sky. The only difference was the lack of light; no beams to burn the greyness out of the downtrodden grass.

I saw the endless earth. It was like the planet wasn't round anymore, and the grey grass continued as far my eyes could see, and thinking about it... I guess I could actually see endlessly far away – like looking into another world, and instead of the horizon cutting the earth from a point it only went on, making my head dizzy.

I raised my hands to see, was I still visible, and sighed, noticing nothing had changed; but was it for relief or disappointment, I didn't know. I was so alone, unable to remember my mission.

I turned around. I would imagine I'd seen the exact copy of the sight in the other direction, but now it was like I was on the edge of the universe. There the grass ended so quick like a part of the picture was missing, and when I looked closer, I could see it was a cliff – the rock was as dark as the roof of the never-ending world. If I would've backed up I could've seen how far it went on, but for now I could tell... there were no visible boundaries.

I blinked my eyes, turning around again. Remembering what had happened, I started to fill with rage - I felt how I clutched my hurt fists and scanned through the area still once, taking a deep breath.

"HADES!"

My yell echoed from the wall behind, so it felt like I had just shouted into a megaphone. I took a few steps forward, wishing for something to happen, and suddenly a breeze blew over the meadow. It would have felt like normal, but in Underworld there was no air - and I was like a 100% sure a black spun of smoke flew with the wind.

I shook my head, gazing into the direction the blackness floated. I had to blink my eyes again to check was it real, and it was - this crooked sign, built of so old and dark wood it seemed like it had been put up a millennia ago. Someone had written something on it with red ink; but for some reason I felt like it wasn't paint. _ASPHODEL MEADOWS._

Thinking of it later, I guess it wasn't even written in English, because I possibly couldn't read as difficult words like that (or freakin' Phlegethon) but Greek - I could recognise the alpha and the way everything looked like it had been typed upside-down.

Phlegethon, Asphodel Meadows... it all brought me something in mind. First of all, I remembered where I was and what I had to do, and second, I stared to memorise about the things Ivan had told me of the Underworld. He didn't speak of it much, and the only stuff he really told of me was his theories of Hades' army (and the slogan: JOIN OR STAY ALIVE.) But was it either Chiron, Ivan or someone else, I could tell this was the place I could never find my father from. Asphodel Meadows... they were built for the 90 percent of people - for the ones neither good, neither evil, so many of the dead traveled here.

And my father was a god - gods could never die, as immortals. Remembering what I had spoken of with Doris, the daughter of Demeter - gods could only fade; after no-one anymore believes in them, remembers their existence. (I had often thought of Santa Claus as some sort of _god._ That's why I always believed in him - fearing, otherwise he would disappear.)

Morpheus wouldn't be here on Asphodel Meadows. And though he would, it would take me all eternity to find him; for now, I could see no souls, but feel them, all around me. Whispers rang through the air, but they were so silent, and I feared to move closer to the Meadows, like the souls would try to suck my life force right then. Morpheus wouldn't be anywhere here; not in Elysium, nor the fields of Punishment; and there was only one place I knew to store the gods... and _others_ who did against the rules. But what had my father done to deserve something like that? I didn't think of it right then. The only thing running in my mind, the only one was Viquel – Ivan's Viquel. How could I ever find her?

I gazed still behind me, at the endless black cliff, listened to the odd sound of the wind which came from somewhere, but I didn't know where from, as I saw no cave or a way for air to blow down here. If there would be one, every soul on this field would already be long gone. Or would they? Occasions like that really made me think – after death, did anyone _actually _wish for the silence to last forever? The world we lived in was so full of pain, and though one left a miserable life would be born again to a reality complete of joy – they could never prevent the pain.

Still pondering on the fact would I go back or forward, I suddenly shuddered. Someone else – or something else tried to decide for me. No scream came out of my mouth as I noticed I was surrounded by spirits; the same kind of as I had seen before in Death Harbour, but I couldn't read their memories. They looked like normal people of different height, age and worth, yet I couldn't see their faces. They had a face and all, so they didn't look like a bunch of people from a scifi-movie with a head and no eyes, nose or mouth, but their features were oddly fuzzy, like they had been blurred.

Right in front of me stood (...or not – I had always imagined spirits floated or something, but these didn't even _hover) _this figure of a man, maybe in his thirties, but he had _old _clothes, like mid-age European. Behind her was this woman with two dimly blonde pigtails and dim, wide-cuffed jeans – she must've died in some freakin' disco in the sixties, and looking at how she was now only as a spirit and all the colours had faded was somehow depressing. There were also children; a couple of young boys who looked like brothers to me, some others I didn't look at carefully.

The man in front of me said: "Mmbhm?"

I leaned over, closer. He repeated the same, and now I could recognize words; if my ears didn't fail me, the man spoke in French – _elle vit._She lives. Gods, how silent his voice was! If I wouldn't have been in a world full of emptiness, I never could've heard it.

I greeted the dead. It was sorta silly, but they had been like me, too. The children hung close as they could feel my warmth, and I knew this was how I had imagined it all along. Though I had prepared for this, it freaked me out, and I really started to feel cold; this wasn't where I belonged.

I heard a little girl next to me speak. "Witch," she whispered, and I closed my eyes.

"I am not a witch," I answered. It felt odd for someone calling me like that – I was already used to the demigod stuff, but _witch _sounded pretty much different. I was about to continue, but this boy who had appeared behind me freaked me out so I couldn't.

"Who is your parent?" He spoke, and his distinguished voice rang through my ears so it gave me the shivers.

"You are a son of Hermes," I answered him, so he seemed to wrinkle his eyebrows, though I still couldn't see his features. "You have the aura of one."  
"Who is your parent?"

I raised my hand, staring at my dim, purple glow. "Morpheus."

He scanned me very thoroughly. "Morpheus?" He repeated, and for a second I thought he'd start blaming me as a Hecate kid or something – I had always imagined them to have a purple or magenta aura.

"I have never ran to a child of his. There are descendants of many here; Hermes, Demeter, Hephaestus, the minor gods. But none of the three elder gods."

"Is there a daughter of Iris?" I still feared to look at him straight into his face, so I stared at the others looking at us – there were only a few anymore; maybe many had left due they had ran into this kind of stuff before and couldn't understand it, or then fog just distracted these mortals. "Her name is Viquel. She is fourteen."

The boy seemed a little confused as I spoke of Viquel in present, but now that I actually was close to her, I felt it would be a little odd to say just how she _was _something.

"There are many," the son of Hermes raised his gaze to the ceiling. "We don't speak to each other. We don't know each other."  
"Oh..." I lowered my head. But before I could tell, the son of Hermes reached out to me, as if he was to take my hand – I was awoken by the cold touch of his spirit cutting through me.

"Ask him. He is aware. The Lord of Spirits."

And then the son of Hermes was gone, but I could see how he dashed into the emptiness as a white ray of light, leaving behind a tiny breeze blowing my hair away from my face, so I turned right.

I had to shake my head. I thought I saw something; maybe it was only because the boy had said it, but truly, for a second I imagined Nico Di Angelo standing there, in his full height, and his hands pointing into east – him revealing a dark path to a certain direction.

Without looking back, I blinked my eyes and followed the way. There the strays of grass seemed to bend aside from my way like a greater force was holding them there. I maybe ran, but very soon I found myself lost – in every direction there were only endless meadows, but there, about a ten steps from me, stood a light figure.

She glimmered like she was illuminated with a searchlight. I knew already then she was a demigod – many there had the same kind of dim glow – their aura, like I had seen on the Hermes boy. Her though... it might've happened for the same reason as the grass bended over and revealed the way, but anyway – her aura was _sparkling. _As I looked closer, it was shifting colour, from red to green, green to yellow.

Her long, dark hair was dim now that she wasn't alive any more, her rainbow dress seemed to have lost its colour. She leaned onto her knees and turned around, gazing straight at me. Though she was like the other spirits, I knew I could see her eyes; warm brown, like molten chocolate. She was pale, and there was blood dripping off her hair.

I didn't know why I did it. I didn't even _want_ to know.

Something just snapped in my head then. Maybe it was the way Viquel stared at me, or the fact I realised she actually _existed, _wasn't only something Ivan had made up and told stories of. But no, she was the exactly same girl I had seen in Ivan's memories, but this time she looked so different – in Ivan's memories she had rosy skin, a happy expression. Now... she looked like she hadn't slept, eaten or drunk in a hundred years. She had blood in his hair... I remembered how I had been looking at Ivan's memories, how the Cyclops had came and surrounded her and Ivan – then I closed my eyes, didn't see the rest.

The thing which was relieving was the fact Viquel's head hadn't been ripped off or anything, but now I had these constant scenarios of different ways she and Ivan could have ended their story together – and though I closed my eyes and ran away, I couldn't prevent seeing it.

I woke up from a horrible nightmare. In this dream within a dream there was only darkness, and for a second I thought I had only imagined the whole thing, me on Asphodel Meadows, because now I was back again where I began. Everywhere it was so empty and dark, I could hear voices, but this time they weren't of the dead. I knew it because they were so much louder and came out of as distinguished like someone was shouting from the other end of a long tunnel. There was an odd smell there, and I believed my senses were coming back: soon I could see.

But what was this place? Had I been here all along, only alone in the dark, imagined my whole life? The starry sky above me had only been a mirage seen in wish for light, my friends, my loved ones, they were only delusions for my will for company.

I made the same mistake as before, in the dream of Asphodel Meadows. I couldn't remember the time of me falling asleep, but there existed no time or event, and the next thing I saw could have been a lie too; but this was only too real – the origin of all despair.


	20. WHERE THE CURSED BELONG

**PART 7: LIGHT**

WHERE THE CURSED BELONG

Ahead of me was this endlessly dark... let's call it a pit.

I had no idea of how I had came there, but I realized I wasn't sleeping – barely conscious, perhaps, but still awake. My motions were like normal, not in the speed of light, like in the dream which determined my fate with the one I feared of losing so, but whose face I couldn't remember anymore. Nothing more I could see than that endless pit which seemed like my only option. I feared to approach it, and now, as I thought about it, it felt like something was pulling me closer to the edge, like a million pairs of invisible hands pushed me from behind. I closed my eyes and shook my head, staring at my feet – in the darkness they were invisible, so it was impossible to tell was I moving or not, but the less I thought about it, the more it helped. I was probably about to sigh, but almost tripped over of fear, hearing something.

It was like a whisper, almost like the hiss of some reptile, and it grew louder all the time – until it suddenly stopped, and a cold breeze blew over me. I didn't dare to look up; I gazed left and right, saw nothing.

The shouting came back. It was almost like someone was swearing there, millions of swears even more terrible than all the curses I had ever said aloud put together. Clonking, this noise which reminded me of old water pipes struggling they didn't fall apart. Like someone was scratching metal against metal... Tartarus was the freakiest zoo in the universe.

What was I doing there? This wasn't where I belonged, and the last time I had seen a ray of sun seemed like a million years ago. I had all the time thought my dream was more of a nightmare, but it still had the light which kept me from opening my eyes, but now that it was gone, there was no return, and waking up was impossible. How many times had Ivan told me about Tartarus – the bottom pit of the whole universe, the place for someone or something so evil, it unchained would be the end right there and right then. Why I was seeking for my father from a place like this? The only ones trapped here were the Titans and a couple of possessed guys a 1000 times eviler than Hitler. That kind of evil was inherited, and if my father was one of those guys, I'd have already either killed myself, lie in prison or blown the camp up. Those were actually very little to the something I would have really done.

Closing my ears from the voices wrapping around me like a clutching fist, I started to memorise all the things ever happened to me – to forget the reality and escape to long-gone summers, even winters and rainy days, anything to fly away from here.

"_I can see him in you... Though he faces these worlds in endless sleep, his spirit lives through you."_

Hades words were like a riddle to me. Though I had always been good in solving them, this one seemed impossible – only for the reason I couldn't say anything about Morpheus, more than he was the god of dreams. I didn't yet even understand how Zeus and Hades had claimed me, and by this mission to nowhere I was sent because of Hades had doomed me. Hades still couldn't believe my words, and neither I would – the only thing proving this was this theory I had been developing since what happened with Titus. I had always believed I had murdered him, I had murdered even all those animals and snakes and birds, chased all life away with my deadly aura. But I guess Ivan saw it too, my nature and the look in my eyes, how I wasn't a murderer, how they only lie in... deep sleep.

This was the time for my decision; to prove who I really was, to find my way out from where I didn't belong. In the skies the Lord of the Universe was probably scanning through the layers of the earth, his eyes trying to stalk me here further from home than ever, but I was covered with a dark haze, and no prayer could save me now.

I turned around seeking for my salvation. I searched for a way out, but it was too dark to see anything except the bottomless pit of Tartarus. I couldn't move closer or further, and only imagining what would lie in that darkness made my head spin and gave me the cold shivers.

There seemed to be this odd light glimmering, which revealed me that darkness within darkness. My gaze moved everywhere, but nothing I could see; I only heard how something seemed to be growling down there, like they sensed me coming and hated me so. I closed my eyes and let a silent sigh – I bet no-one except a maniac thought of it the way I did, but I actually wished to see what was down there and tell them I wasn't there to interrupt their peace, but how crazy would that be? Evil never listened to anybody, it was a force of its own, using foolish kids like me as their instruments of power on their way for their vengeance on mankind. If I'd say _hello_ the Titus-way to any Titan, I'd be either possessed by their spirit or blackmailed to send some nasty surprises to the gods in no time. I was the most miserable, the most mad demigod ever faced a decision like this. So heroic I almost had to hurrah for me.

Only looking at that huge pit, only thinking of it made my will to go closer larger. The growling grew larger, and I started to think about everything else than it – then I heard a voice like someone would have winched, but it didn't come out of the pit. Suddenly I knew the growling neither came _fully _from the pit – the echo was different...

A wind blew over my head again. I didn't know what I had against watching up – maybe it was some childhood trauma from this trailer of an R-rated ghost film with some ghost circling a chandelier in the ceiling, but this time I dared to raise my gaze. I had never actually seen a ghost up there, so it was time for me to master my fear – and I saw nothing.

The breeze though, it kept on blowing. I tried to figure out the direction it came from, and there was no else option than Tartarus, but for an odd reason I felt it didn't come from down there. So I raised my gaze and looked at the roof _above _the pit, like wishing to see a hole to the upper world.

That was of course impossible there, as this was the deepest of hell. But I just couldn't deny the fact there was _something _up there, and thinking of it, I guess I saw it, too. The light which shone on Tartarus seemed to be a reflection from a mirror hanging up in the ceiling – high above, so high I couldn't believe it, a celestial bronze plate, like a gigantic cauldron. Instinctively I moved a little closer, looking only up, and now I could feel the emptiness coming closer, the black hole in the bottoms of Tartarus. I wished for me having something to keep me on my feet, like the footballer shoes Thalia had, but no – so I only concentrated deeply to something so simple even a mortal could do; not falling down.

My breath turned shallow as I came to the edge of the bottomless pit. Now I could see it clearly, the plate hanging from the ceiling. I was sure the growling and winching had to come out of there – what kind of beast was trapped like that, there? Listening to the voices clearly... they sounded almost like _snoring. _The plate shone almost black as it reflected the nothing down there, and looking at it nearly made me trip over – the sounds of Tartarus turned sharper. _The lost one falls here seeking for the lost god, hm? _I was sure I heard someone whisper, but it came from the depths, and it wasn't English – something older, and I could understand it, but almost like... ancient.

I shuddered and stared up. Still unaware of what was my exact mission, that one single plate there sorta fascinated me, and nothing more I thought of than climbing up there. But there was no possible way, and even though I was a demigod, I couldn't fly or anything. I searched my pockets for anything which would help me climbing, but I had nothing than my golden watch and a back of drachmae - neither was any use there. I thought of my friends – Ivan, who could maybe use his shadow travel, Marié, who was a daughter of Hermes – and probably had some tricks up in her sleeve, Pruce, whose powers were more awesome I had ever seen on any demigod.

Gracie.

Gracie had her gadgets; her nunchuk-necklace, her anklets and ringlets. I knew the one around her left arm morphed into a shield and the one around the right could morph into about anything, but I also knew she had one in her ankle; a ring she could morph into a rope – I had seen her take it out before, but never use it. More than ever I needed it now.

In desperation, the voices from the pit spoke to me again. _The lost god... he is fading._

And then another voice began; _but she must succeed, to fulfil what will prove their existence – and vengeance on the glorious..._

How crazy was I then? Hearing voices in my head. The growling had faded to almost nothing compared to those two speaking then, but yet I couldn't tell what those down somewhere meant – the second voice had said something about _them, _but I didn't know what it was supposed to point at; the existence has to be proven... I swallowed and closed my eyes.

I honestly didn't know what happened then. It was like I was falling into a dream again, and the first thing I knew I did in my dream... I jumped.

I probably took the words _the lost one falls here seeking for the lost god _too literally, because I literally fell; I only remembered how the growling faded to nothing and the wind in my ears turned so strong I felt like freezing – my brain froze, I fell into nothing. Everything around me was simply black, and I knew the voices came closer, their whispers hungrier. A hand seemed to be reaching out to me from the blackness, but suddenly the scenery around me seemed to shatter, like I was jumping through a window – the blackness fell apart like glass. And then... I saw Gracie.

She stood on the edge of a huge chasm, the size of a freakin' city. All alone in the dark, she kneeled down to the edge, like she wished to see her reflection from what she imagined as water, or that's what it seemed like. Soon it was noticeable she didn't kneel only because of kneeling, but she took something from her ankle – a golden ringlet, which morphed into a rope from the snap of her fingers, and in lightning speed she was there again standing, her gaze fixed to a golden plate hanging from the ceiling of the cave.

There hung four hooks from the edges of the plate, one on each side. I saw how Gracie took out something which looked like a golden stick, stuck it to the ground and tied the rope around it, throwing the other edge up to where my gaze didn't reach.

* * *

When I woke up I noticed there were tears in my eyes; the reason was unknown to me, but even the fact I was still there depressed me so I felt like my whole world was nothing than a sea of sorrow.

But where I found me wasn't the depth of Tartarus, in the clutches of something even worse than a million monsters and a situation worse than death. I stared left, at the place where I had imagined Gracie. But she wasn't there anymore – the golden rope alone dangled from the plate in the ceiling. I wondered where she had gone, had she fallen too?

I took hold of the rope and prayed to every god I could, but mainly to my father, to tell me why and because I was in this dream, why I couldn't wake up, a big why. Still a fear of Gracie in my mind, I took hold of the rope, and that second the growling stopped, like I had awoken the monster.

I let go in horror. A second I stood there, waiting for it to begin again, and with a winch, I took hold of the rope, clutching my both legs around it like I was wishing for a big hug, tugging, I started climbing. I didn't know how long it took or for what I did it, but in the end I knew one thing; I wasn't dead.

Arriving there I noticed how the rope hung loose in the other end, where Gracie had tied it. I was unbelievably high – still somewhere in the middle of the cave, because the ground was so much lower than me and the ceiling so much higher.

"Oh my... Olympus."

I bet the monsters in the depths didn't like it – the whispers grew that second so loud I almost wished I had bullets in my ears like Gracie did. But it was exactly how I felt that second, seeing what was there, inside that golden cauldron, on which edge I sat.

All snuggled up, thus taking over ¾ of the plate (which was pretty huge, thinking of it) snoring so loud and so hard it was heard down there as growling and felt as a breeze, there lay a figure. But it wasn't a monster, or... I couldn't tell what I was thinking then. I only stared at the sleeping god unbelievingly, my jaw probably down at my chest or something. He was tall, shabby and... tired. His orange hair reached over his shoulders, even longer than mine and a wild stubble grew on his chin. He wore this knee-length leather jacket like some teenage goth, and a baby blue bonnet. The Sandman.

My eyes were like the size of plates then. I couldn't just believe it – the god of Dreams, trapped over Tartarus, for a crime I didn't know.

There the whole universe seemed to stop. It was only me and that sleeping Sandman, only that plate hanging high over hell. And we were so missing, but still so safe; but why was Morpheus asleep?

I rose my finger very carefully. The plate started to swing from direction to direction as I moved, so I only reached my finger very high, poking Morpheus straight in the eye.

He was fully asleep.

His snoring blew the hair off my face so it almost parted. How I could ever wake him up? If he and I were related at all I'd say he'd never wake up unless he wanted to; I could sleep like that for days, but rarely did it. I wished I'd know some myths of Morpheus, but the only myth even close to it was the myth of freakin' _Orpheus, _and they had as much in common as a cat and a teapot.

Leaning over to him my gaze stopped to my watch. I had this crazy idea then, sorta like the one Marié had when she sent the snakes after me, but... why not? The poison I had in my drug-needle wasn't deadly, it only put to sleep for a while. Morpheus would sleep for all eternity if I'd keep on poking him with it, but right then it felt the only option, unless I'd want to dump over the whole plate so we'd fall to the pits of Tartarus to visit those two hungry voices which almost had me. The dream still brought the tears to my eyes.

Turning my head, I snapped the button on my morph-watch and felt it melt to the shape of my needle in seconds. Winching and praying for my father to not take this as an offense, I struck it into his left arm.

The silence scared me, and I turned around. A pair of tired, deep, hazel eyes matched with my gaze.

"What is this dream?"

I shuddered listening to his voice. I knew it wasn't because it freaked me out, but it was somehow familiar – like listening to some song lastly heard like a 10 years ago; it stays in memory, though heard rarely.

I swallowed, sorta smiling after my sentence. "A... dream, within a dream, within a million other dreams."

"And in a world like ours, reality is so very hard to tell."  
I saw I held the drug-needle still in my hand, and embarrassed, I was already putting it away, but then the god of Dreams came in the way, snatching it from me like stealing a lollipop from a kid.

"This is masterfully crafted work. I believe this is the makings of Hephaestus, am I right?"  
"It... that..." I stammered – gods, I didn't even know how to _speak _anymore. "Her name is Gracie."  
"Gracie? I know many of that name."

I stared at him straight in the eyes. It was so very... odd; we didn't even _know _each other, but still we spoke of stuff like my drug-needle, though that'd be the last person a guy waking from a 10 year coma would do. He gave my needle back to me, and I morphed it to a watch – there was a strange light in the god's eyes.

"I almost believed the prophecy would never come true."

He sighed, but very silent; in sleep he made the racket of a cursed elephant, awake silent like a cicada at daytime. That brought to my mind everything I had ever wondered of, and now I knew it was due the god of Dreams, even my second name. Cicada, a loud insect of the night.

"It is your turn. How did you come up with that idea? The venom of those certain snakes is perfect for an antidote – especially for one spell as powerful as this."

"I..." and then suddenly, I turned very silent. My father gazed at me waiting, and as I took a deep breath, I explained everything from since Hades' last words, and I guess Morpheus understood nothing more than Hades' name, because when he heard it, the earth shook so the plate we were hanging in almost turned upside-down, and I felt sorta drowsy.

I had a bad feeling about it. "Don't say... you put the whole damn world asleep, right?"

Morpheus smiled. "Only half of the Underworld, young heroine. You seem to resist my spell quite well, almost too well."

I wrinkled my eyebrows. "Don't you still know-"

Morpheus laid his hand on my shoulder, and suddenly I felt as calm as if I would be only asleep, not in dream. "I know lots. But Ash... she is unforgettable. It isn't hard to recognize a daughter of her, listening to the speech of one. She called this so often a _damn world."_

A crooked smile spread on my face. I had always kinda thought of that expression – I had been using it since I was a kid, and thinking of how my mum had used the same expressions as me when I was little... it was hard, but sorta easy to imagine.

"Awful to say, I hate this situation. I am weary, Eleanor. This..." he tapped the tip of his chin, his wild stub, with one of his fingers, "Wasn't here before."

My brain had sorta registered the fact my father called me with my whole name, this name I hated so – but listening to him call me that, it sounded almost beautiful. Only he could say it the right way; the Greek way. I still hated it, though, I didn't deny it. And I hated Morpheus, too, for leaving me so, but still loved him – the way I had done with Titus. But this time, I wouldn't let him go.

"Father..." I sighed, leaning over to examine his long, orange hair, which had probably been shorter before. "What did Hades speak about? Of you facing this world in endless sleep... What have you done to deserve a fate like this?"

He took hold of one, thick bunch of his hair, which drooped the second his hand touched it. "You seem to have inherited something of mine... but though my memory is hazy, I can tell, that your hair wasn't that color at birth."

I huffed. "I know. But why... why can't you tell me?"

"Tell you what? I can't remember anything of the past years. I have been dreaming my life away, sleeping to die. So long it has all been mist to me."  
"How long?"

Morpheus took a great pause. There, a place with nothing more than blackness and a plate of celestial bronze, I couldn't tell time, and in a place like that, everything seemed so very slow.  
"Yes... the second Titan War. It remains too sharp in my mind, though those years I wish to erase. And they... they wished to erase the existence of me."  
"Do you mean... the Half-Blood Heroic War?"  
Morpheus grumbled, so the plate shook. "Another of these fashion names! They ruin the original meanings. Oh... this darkness is nothing compared to the one blurring the minds of those warriors, that time. It all seemed so simple – a couple of half-bloods and an old centaur, that's it – against an army of so many, even the Titans. I am too young of a god to remember the first war; but this one seemed like one extraordinary – this time the gods couldn't win. And those others, caring for the safety of us half-bloods, for the safety of the world, we chose the wrong side."  
"What did you do?"  
"Something I wish you will never be able to do. There was this prophecy; _you shall face the world in endless sleep. _I... didn't put the whole world asleep; it would be a catastrophe, but year 2005, New York was in a deep slumber. I didn't care for how the Titans would do, how the gods would do. I only wished this world wouldn't fall; so many would die for no reason."

My expression darkened, and I gazed into the black emptiness, right over Morpheus' right shoulder. "That's not even _wrong... _this punishment... they didn't throw even Nemesis here, though she was on the same side as you – why _you?"_

Morpheus sighed. "Sometimes Zeus has his dark days, too. I woke up New York, yes, but the spell... let's say it backfired. So few know of this, but whole Olympus fell asleep due that. The powers ruling this world... they never really sleep. If they do, they find themselves a substitute, and during the Winter Solstice, the most important day of the year... it's not a very good time, then."

I blinked my eyes a couple of times. Had I just heard it right? But didn't the war take place in summer? That was one of the little amount of events I actually could remember. _When _did the spell actually backfire?

"The 21'st of December, 2012."

I shook my head. "No way! And how... did you know? Chiron does that all the time. Reads my thoughts."

Morpheus laughed, but silent, because that'd draw some attention, for sure. He knew me well, and we hadn't ever even lived together. He was wonderful – though he had never seen me before, he had sneaked into my mother's dreams, seen a baby with pitch-black hair and a flat nose like I had rolled of my bed and crashed into some wall. (It wasn't Morpheus' nose – darn.) He had never been able to read anyone's mind, even my mother's. No god could read minds except Apollo, and those ones who knew things, they only made guesses; they could read our faces.

Now I think I even understood Ivan. He had probably been testing Chiron, the immortal centaur who thought he knew everything – but in the end he had only been guessing everything. That was a skill to brag off, if to say. Like a sixth sense.

"That year was all haze to me... I only could tell... well, my hair changing colour."

Morpheus maybe would have blushed, but in that dark I couldn't really see anything except his funky bonnet. "Yes... many do that, in the age of twelve. Actually only few change their hair color – you are the only one I know. That must've happened on your birthday? I... sent it sort of as a gift."  
"Why? All the perverts started chasing me then!"

Gods, I sounded offended.

"I knew this was coming soon; the spell backfired seven years from the war; it is a long time. But it came back stronger than before, and that solstice, even Hades and Persephone took part. So I willed to tell you something before my punishment, as I knew it would be taken as an offence. Zeus is a drama queen, let's say."

We both laughed then, but Morpheus only shortly, turning dead silent, lowering his weary head.

"Dreams are everything we ever seek for, Eleanor. They are of the most wonderful gifts of gods given to mankind. But though they are a great escape, no-one should dream their life away; only live a dream."

"But what is this? There is a real life, some place where everything which should be possible is possible, not anything more. There have been so many dreams within, I can't tell what is real anymore."  
Morpheus gave me a downcast smile. "Yes... this is a dream."

I took a deep breath, clutching my fists. "Then I don't want to wake up."

"You never have to, Eleanor. You can live the life even without your eyes closed, without fear. How many of the wonders in your life have happened in a dream? These dreams... they go on after opening your eyes, even when you are awake. You are meant to dream _in_ this world. I am meant to dream this world."

"I don't want you to stay here. Hades... he can go to Tartarus himself. He can't keep you here forever."

"No," Morpheus interrupted me, holding my hand in his palms. "I am here until time comes. And Eleanor, why would you see me awake, if this wouldn't be a dream?"

I feared to turn my gaze or close my eyes, because then I would wake up, instantly.

"You were here to solve out something. To find the reason. You are not here to wake me up, bring light to somewhere, where it will never belong. Tell this to the world; so they wouldn't be missing anybody."

I understood Morpheus. Maybe he deep, down inside knew even of me and Titus; the one I had lost, due I had only been dreaming. I had never before known it, but now I did. If I would only sleep the sunny days and starlit nights, without waking up ever, only because I thought I was better off somewhere else, I would only stay, until the day I would be carried away, to a world so different I could never understand it. I would be so wrong. No-one was better in a dream. It would all be a lie.

"I... I need to return. The daughter of Iris..."  
"Iris?" I heard Morpheus say, and this time, his voice was different, like he spoke to me from beneath the surface. "It has been long since..."


	21. EYES WIDE OPEN

**PART 7: LIGHT**

EYES WIDE OPEN

Marié had beautiful blue eyes.

They were the first thing I saw when getting back to my senses. I felt a warm chill on my back, like there was someone leaning on me and keeping me safe, but turning my head I saw there was no-one. A dark figure on his knees was there right in front of me, and I was staring at someone's _sandals._

"Help me, Elea." Ivan turned to me in despair. His face was paler than usual, and he reminded me of someone else, reaching out to me, but no water in his fingertips. "I cannot... get up."

"You won't fool me," I found myself saying, trying to get on my knees. What was this? I had just been in the deepest depths of the Underworld, and now... in the hands of Hades.

Or should I say _feet._

"I won't? How come you then fooled... me?"

I knew Hades was staring straight through me, but his gaze was so strong it pushed me down, and I didn't have the strength to rise. It was so hard to gain the courage to turn against him, but he already hated me; what I had to lose?

"I have been dreaming this life, Hades."  
I knew he must've raised his eyebrows again. "Really? You know me well enough to call me with my true name?"

"There is nothing great in your name. Nor in the names of Poseidon, any Olympian... not even Zeus."

I felt slight weight on my back, but didn't fall. "Not in this dream."  
"You are dreaming your reality, child. Daughter of Morpheus... should you be chained up too, in case a spell of yours backfires too?"  
"There will be no more spells," I spoke very slowly, which wasn't really me – but I hadn't felt like myself at all since meeting my father; now it was like he was speaking through me. "No more dreams. Not in this _damn_ world. I'm not sleeping anymore... please forgive me."

Then I closed my eyes and clutched my fists, like trying to push the layer weighing so much over my back away. I didn't manage, but felt how everyone else was struggling too. I was amazed, as I saw Gracie suddenly rising up and dashing to Nico Di Angelo, who unmovable gazed into Gracie's passionate eyes.

"We are done. Help us leave!"

I rose my head – even that simple motion felt like my body weighed tonnes. For a second I feared Hades would blow Gracie into pieces, but surprisingly, I saw him fall asleep – his head drooped down, his hair covering his eyes like a curtain. But was he really sleeping? I hadn't the strength or time to tell. I only rose up together with Ivan and Marié – racing to the son of Hades.

"What have you done?" Nico Di Angelo whispered almost in terror. "I thought you came here for the prophecy, not to cause this world to fall!"

Gracie stared at him with fire in her eyes – like she wished to set his robe alight. "You!" I wondered how Nico didn't even winch, though Gracie pointed her finger straight in his chest. "You don't understand _anything! _The prophecy has already been solved, and without this escape, a part we will never wish to come true will do!"  
The Lord of Spirits thought of it quickly. "No-one of you is going to die."  
Gracie flinched back. "Why you... you don't even _know _the prophecy!"

"But I know who is on the steps of the stairway to death. Their aura tends to flicker. But your friend... is in danger."

I saw Ivan step up, his eyes flashing. I guess my mind was a little slow there, because everyone else already seemed to have understood the danger. And then I saw the worry on Marié's face. Pruce.

We escaped with the DEATH-chariot, but this time it wasn't a nice carriage ride like before – we truly were riding, almost like shadow travel, except more realistic. The horses just raced ahead like they could go on like that for all eternity, and we really needed to hang on if we wished to stay on. All four of us sat on the back, hugging each other, wishing it would prevent from not falling. Ahead of us, Nico Di Angelo rode his head bowed, speaking to himself. "I have deceived my kingdom," he kept on repeating, like it was the only thing he could say. I felt sad for him. I had caused this all – it hadn't been Hades' fault at all, no. All mine.

"You freak me out, seriously," Ivan turned to me when we were riding through this great field full of black poplars. It seemed familiar, yet somehow different. "You... in your sleep, you act like possessed. Or you did, this time. We were there, bowing to Hades though our will was not to, and then you fell asleep. You didn't scream, but... you spoke, and _twitched, _almost rolled on the floor. And then your aura... ever heard of strobe lights?"

My eyes widened. I knew I couldn't act normal when sleeping, but this was definitely something anyone shouldn't act like. Screaming and trembling... there's nothing wrong with those, but rolling on the floor... shudders.

"I don't choose my dreams myself. But if you were there...-"

I bet I would've said there something about Ivan going mad, but suddenly the truth of where we were struck me like lightning – I froze, turning to Nico Di Angelo.

"Stop!"

The Lord of Spirits gazed at me suspiciously. "What is this scheme of yours? You are a fool to get off here. Father will catch you and slay you!"

"He didn't catch me the time I dreamed of this place. The prophecy... it won't come true unless this happens! _The journey shall be end of one's calling... _It doesn't have to mean death! Calling... it can mean longing."  
Marié turned to me, her eyes glowing like a madman's. "But Pruce will die if we won't go on!"

"Hades will come after us before him. I dreamed of this place, when Hades sent me after my father... the Asphodel Meadows. Viquel was here."

Nico Di Angelo seemed to see pictures we couldn't. "No. I won't let you off here. I won't stop."

"Then we'll jump off! What are you trying to act like, a lifesaver?"

The Lord of Spirits didn't look at me or listen. But I knew Ivan was gnashing his teeth and trying to tell me something, something I didn't know of our rider. He had a dark past, and it had something to do with this place; I never got to know what.

"I know you don't will to see her," Nico Di Angelo continued, as he seemed to increase the speed of our carriage. I was about to ask what he was talking about, but then I saw how Ivan turned slightly pale, like he had just swallowed something not so nice.

"I think he is right," he nodded at the Lord of Spirits. "It isn't wise to stop now. We need to get outta here."  
"What?" I think I spat in Ivan's face or something, due he started rubbing his nose. Even Gracie turned around, though she had been pretty silent. "Viquel is your _life, _Ivan. I've seen your memories... you think of her all the time. I've never seen anyone care for someone like that."  
"Why didn't you then bring her back?"

I turned silent. What would've happened if... if I had stayed? Would've it even been possible to bring her back? I knew if I would beg of Nico Di Angelo, he could do it, but he didn't seem willing – his gaze was locked to a dark spot in the horizon, which I knew to be some other place than Asphodel Meadows. I remembered how I had run away, and still the reason was a mystery to me. The only thing I couldn't understand.

"She had blood in her hair," I whispered. "And then she gazed through me... for some reason I just felt, like she was blaming me then. And next... I found myself from the depths of Tartarus."

Ivan, Gracie and Marié all coughed in the same time; Ivan bended over like he was choking or something.

"You went to _Tartarus?!"_

I pressed my lids tightly together. "Please, don't make me remember."

Though I wished it so, I knew it from Ivan's gaze – I had to tell him the truth some day. But for now, the present was more important than the past, and as the black poplars disappeared behind us and the greyness turned into black, I wondered so, how Ivan didn't regret us just riding by.

"What are you staring at?" He didn't even look at me, as our speed seemed to slow down, but the darkness turned so deep his eyes started to glow again. "If we would've stayed there, the all of us would be already dead. It is better for many to stay alive than all to die for one."

"Is it?" I heard Nico Di Angelo say, with his curiously distant voice. "If one dies to let the others live, sorrow will haunt them for all eternity – and if all die for one, the one left alive has to suffer and face this world all alone. Which is a better option?"  
Ivan sighed. "None. Rather I would go alone than walk this world, but if I leave to stop here, no-one will come after me. They only haunt you, Elea, and with me you are more safe."

I understood Ivan, sort of, but maybe he had the same kind of abilities as gods did, or his senses just really sharpened in the dark, because he seemed to be reading my thoughts again. I must've looked pretty empathic, thinking of Ivan dumping Viquel like that, all the time.

"Remember, Elea?" He was almost whispering – maybe he didn't wish for Nico Di Angelo to hear. "How I blamed everything to be my fault? Do not forget."

And then he said nothing more; in that darkness, though he was so close to me I could feel the coldness of his body compared to mine, though Marié and Gracie were there all next to me, I felt like all alone. Somewhere in the horizon, I thought I could see blue lightning, feel the earth grumbling. I think the Lord of the Spirits felt them too; because right when he could hear the thunder, the darkness turned so deep I could see nothing anymore, and it was like riding through an endless, black tunnel.

I think, somewhere in my sight, there was a flashing figure; in a shade of cyan I couldn't really tell, but which I had seen before. Marié sighed and took a grip of my arm – her tiny fingers clutched around me seeking for saviour.

* * *

I honestly can't tell how Pruce could do it, but yes; after what happened, I was sure I knew who he was.

Our carriage stopped so quickly then, that we jerked forward and almost hit our foreheads on the benches ahead us, but I would've definitely considered that as a better fate than almost getting killed by only our own stupidity.

"Father!" I heard Nico Di Angelo say – he didn't even yell, but his voice filled the whole area around us with a powerful echo. He jumped off and we had to lean over to see what was happening; everything was so black – I bet only Ivan could see something there. "Spare these children! They have done nothing against your will."  
"I am not after them", Hades growled, now I could see him – he stood there tall as a flagpole, and looking at him I could tell we weren't in deep darkness; he just had such a dark and wide aura, it blackened the senses. "But if your friend won't do what I command him to do, the daughter of Morpheus shall face my revenge."

"Vengeance!" The Lord of Spirits walked to his father, 10 heads shorter, but still with no fear. "That's the only thing you think of nowadays! Didn't I tell you already before about your grudges; only because someone turns against you to defend themselves doesn't mean you have to imprison them in _Tartarus!"_

"Watch what you say, son," Hades murmured. But Nico Di Angelo stood there his arms crossed, defending someone behind him, a young boy with a cyan glow. It seemed like he was used to situations like this. I saw how his eyes moved from his father to us, like he was hinting us to run while we still could. We though did nothing; Ivan was holding us there, pressing us tightly to the seats, and we knew he did it for reason. By running we couldn't even distract Hades – he would attack Pruce anyway, no exceptions.

"Well, well," Hades scanned through the figure at the shore very thoroughly. "If it isn't one of _that _folk. I wonder it already now – where will you belong after I take care of disposing of you? The Underworld is for mortals, you know."

I saw how Marié started hitting Ivan's arms like it would help her to get off, because she clearly wished to see what was happening. It was hard for even the tallest of us to see behind Hades as he was unnaturally tall, but I almost felt pity for Marié then. She couldn't see really anything from there, as the horses pulling our cart came on the way.

I didn't see anything of Pruce except his glow, but I bet he looked offended. "For mortals? And I thought _you_ have lived on this planet for like a thousand years!"

Hades seemed bored. "Yes, I am too old. I actually meant the _dead,_ if you understand. Perhaps..."

Nico Di Angelo looked at his father like he really wished him to get a life. "Not _Tartarus_ again? That's your answer to _everything, _even to aunt Demeter's _cereal!"_

In a normal solution I would've snickered, but this time it was serious – Hades and his son clearly knew something I didn't, something I guess I should've known. I guess I was even frustrated then, or should I say... jealous? But no... I wasn't jealous for anything than glory, there was no glory in anything Pruce was facing right then. It was something a person like him definitely shouldn't deserve.

"That cereal has got nothing to do with what I have to handle right now. What are you still doing here? Protecting that boy is no good. And I made the mistake to give you a _throne _in my kingdom!"

"Throne and throne... you won't dare to give it away, and it's too big for Pablo anyway! This boy is innocent until testified, and I can still sense his mortal soul. That is one ability you have always lacked for a god."

I guess that was the last thing Nico Di Angelo should have done, because right then Hades growled and stepped forward, pulling his son out of his way, and rising his hand like he was willing to blow Pruce into bits.

"This is enough!" Marié winched right next to me, and surprisingly she got away from Ivan's grip, and the only thing we could do then was go after her.

Nico Di Angelo turned to us, as he saw how we left his chariot. "Keep away from here! This is between me and-"

Suddenly I and the whole four of us felt this tug in our stomachs, like someone had just prepared there some hook and pulled it, and all fell on our backs, which made me lose my breath for a second. But when I finally had the strength to rise, it was too late.

"And OH MERCIFUL GODS stay OUT of the River Styx!"

I was already about to ask what the Lord of the Spirits was talking about, but he didn't even explain, before we could already see it. Hades had just opened his mouth to say some awful curse to probably kill us all, Marié had risen on his feet to run after Pruce, when something... let's say strange happened.

It's pretty hard to explain it. The fact is... over ten things happened the same time.

First I knew the all of us rose up, Nico Di Angelo closed his eyes like he didn't bear to see what was happening, Hades flinched back like 20 feet... and many other stuff. The most important of it was something I didn't know being reality or dream. I just remembered how I had finally seen Pruce – his glow had gone so dim I could spot his features, but it didn't last for long. Like he knew perfectly what he was about to do, he took a couple of steps back, stepping into the Styx River.

I heard Ivan scream in a blood-freezing tone, and I didn't really know what I did then, but if my memory wasn't hazy or anything, I must've just been there on my knees, my jaw up to my chest, saying something like _HOLY CAMAHOLY IN THE NAME OF HADES' UNDERWEAR _or simply "whoa."

At first it didn't happen anything, but if I really could see it right... after him standing there for a second, in that water which should've burned Pruce like he was boiled in acid and swimming in lava in the same time, he was still unmovable, invincible, staring at us with his eyes which glowed in an unnatural way. I had seen people with glowing eyes, but let me point out that the glow in the oracle's or Ivan's eyes were both nothing compared to that. Just looking into Pruce's eyes hurt me so, and even Hades was breathless then. He didn't have to cover his eyes like we demigods had to when Pruce's aura lit up like gasoline set on fire, burning so bright and strong, but I knew it was hard for him to look at Pruce, too. The time reminded me of all the times when Pruce had done stuff like that, controlling such powers. Except this time his powers didn't overcome him so we had to ask him to stop. _Something _had taken over him, but now it seemed like that something was also a part of him. A familiar voice spoke through him – it filled the whole cave so powerful it made the earth grumble, and though Nico Di Angelo ahead of us hadn't opened his eyes, he seemed to know what it was.

"The blessing of the Elder! This is what we feared the most!" He whispered, as this freaky voice called Pruce with his name. I didn't really know who I was listening to – at that unknown thing possessing my friend or Nico Di Angelo's frightened tone. But the thing from it was that perhaps, or it was only a dream – the voice called Pruce something else than Pruce. _Pruce Lucas Hearth, _it was. A name which made him more humane; he had a last name. But still... the blessing of the Elder? It sounded almost too much like the prophecy coming true.

"What – is – the – blessing – of – the – Elder?" I turned to Nico Di Angelo, laying there on my knees. But he didn't even dare to answer, as Marié already laid herself there, her eyes full of fear.

"The blessing of the Elder..." gods, she sounded exhausted, like running a mile! "Because of it I tried to stop Pruce... I didn't know _could _it be possible, but _everyone _who has heard the tales of the Second Titan War-"  
Gracie pushed herself there too. "-Or seen the movie-"  
"..._yes, seen the movie," _Marié bulged her eyeballs, "knows what this is."  
"Well, what it is?"  
Marié gulped as she turned to look at me with her unnaturally serious eyes. She looked like a different person when her eyebrows weren't arched. "Bad."

Well, that for sure told me something. Marié definitely wasn't lying there, but in my opinion, it was more freaky than bad. Already then I knew Marié wouldn't say me anymore, so I turned to the Lord of Spirits, once again. He didn't even look at me before he started to tell; probably he had the same kind of senses as Ivan.

"Gods do have many children. It has usually been so, that gods use their children as their tools towards achievement, and some times... gods do gift their children. It is usually forbidden, especially on quests, but different agreements, deals and promises are made, made in secret – and through these secret ways gods may gift their children in ways beyond our imagination. It doesn't happen often, due these agreements are so very private, but now... it has happened again."  
"But what is wrong with it? Shouldn't gods be _caring _for their children, showing ways of their love?"  
"Gods do care. But they shall not care for one child more than for other. If a god bribes one of their children that shall already be considered as forbidden, but many do violate these rules. And others than gods have done them too... Very many have set an agreement on the River Styx. I am so young not to remember all of them, but this I do. With that power given to Pruce... I cannot believe how the Olympians haven't known of him before."  
"They did know of him!" I hissed. "Pruce lived in the Poseidon cabin, too. But though Pruce showed the skills of a son of him, he wasn't claimed. Too many know of him and what do they do? Not care."  
"This time... someone cares almost too much."

Then we turned silent, Nico Di Angelo started shaking his head in desperation. "This is the fall of this world."

We had already turned around in desperation, but suddenly Pruce gazed straight at us, with his eyes blinding like looking into the sun. When Pruce turned his light off Hades direction, I saw how the god's expression darkened and turned into something I couldn't read, but into human eyes it looked somehow like fear.

"It is not," I heard this time only Pruce's voice, but there still had to be something possessing him. "This is only my true nature."

Marié huffed, and I saw her rise up next to me. "Your nature?" She screamed, and I was surprised Hades didn't knock her down. "To be an unnatural, heartless killing machine? Though Titus blamed you, it doesn't mean you shouldn't exist!"

I shuddered, turning my gaze to Hades. "Why isn't he doing anything? It's not like I would like him to end Pruce, but... do I think he feels... fear?"  
Nico Di Angelo flashed me his evil face. "Though someone is a god, it doesn't mean they can never feel anything, fear, anger, love. I have seen his past, and that is exactly what he looked like when..."

And then he said no more, but I knew it was the same case as on the Asphodel Meadows. It was something in his past... something sad.

"...please, Pruce. You don't have to do this. Though your blessing and gift may give you endless power, do it for us... don't destroy this world."  
What was Marié talking about?

"How do you believe..." Pruce spoke again with his own voice, thank gods. "...that I could ever have planned to turn against you?"  
"Because I know what you are."

I guess Pruce himself knew it too, and didn't like it. I would've neither liked someone calling me _what. _Like speaking to a wild animal. Or in Pruce's case... some crazy water... thing.

"This is... not good," Ivan whispered next to me. I bet he had said it already many times, but I hadn't really yet asked why. "I didn't believe this could actually-"  
"What?" I turned to him, because I knew no-one else would listen. "What do you know that I don't?"  
"Only a few things," Ivan sighed. "First of all... Pruce has already been claimed. Secondly... not by a god."  
I couldn't think of anything right then. I knew I had heard stories of children of others than gods, but nothing came in my mind that moment. Not even a single example.

"The only thing I have to remember is the color... the colour to remember the name. That just... it can't be _Oceanus. _It's just... impossible."

"Colour?"

"Haven't you still got it? Oh gods, Elea. Titans identify their children by color."

_"Colour?!"_

I could tell Ivan was thinking, but he had a smile on his face – a smile due he found my stupidity entertaining. What a friend he was. I loved him.

"Cyan... oh, please. Why can't I remember?"  
Suddenly the voice spoke through Pruce again, but I could not tell what it said – I was lost into Ivan's world.

"Could it..." and then, something, maybe relief, spread on his face. "Tethys," he whispered, turning to me; his dark blue eyes piercing my soul. "The Titanide of the Sea."

Gracie just gulped then like she had swallowed a freakin' rock. A huge rock. "I knew this could be possible, the Blessing of the Elder, I mean... but _Tethys?_ I could've still have understood Prometheus or something, but Tethys... weren't they all thrown to Tartarus?"  
"Lots of stuff gets thrown to Tartarus, Gracie," Ivan mumbled. "So it isn't possibly able to know everything lying down there. It's like a gigantic garbage can of the gods, you know."  
"But... but... I don't understand," Gracie continued, sounding pretty hysteric. Maybe it was the fact of me being so stupid and unaware of all the myths and names which really helped me then; I didn't freak out. Though I probably should have.

Marié even turned back to us then, but didn't let Pruce out of her sight for even a second. "I knew this," she kept on whispering, which even frustrated me. Everyone knew so much more than I did. "Styx can't mean anyone else than Tethys. Anyway, Tethys is the _mother _of Styx..."  
_"How can anyone give birth to a river?!"_

For once, Marié let her eyes off Pruce. "Start believing in magic, Elea."

Magic, my ass. As well I could imagine Ivan's curls like horns or Marié to have a pair of nice pixie wings.

But now, as Pruce acted totally supernatural, differently than I had anyone ever seen acting, I just had to believe there was something behind it. I didn't need knowledge of mythology to tell there was something wrong in someone's parent being a Titan. I had known people like that – or at least heard of them, like the hunter Zoë whose father was Atlas, but she was the damn over _thousand _years old; and a son of Tethys, one of the main Titans, born in modern-day America though all of those people should already been imprisoned in the depths of Tartarus... it felt sorta miraculous.

I bet that something taking over Pruce could sense our suspicion. Because right when we even tried to think of the name Tethys that freak voice from inside Pruce but still not his own started to speak in ancient Greek, which had usually been a little hard for me to understand, but for some reason this time I just did. Maybe it was just my hero instincts turning on in situations like that. It was pretty cool, though; I suddenly understood every single word, like I had opened some hidden locker inside my head I hadn't known of before.

"_This... is the reunion of the despised and forgotten."_

That was probably what the voice exactly said. Though it was pretty impossible to tell who was speaking, my guess all the time was Tethys – the thought was pretty freaky, when thinking about it. Anyway, who in the world would like to be possessed with the spirit of their own mother? _Booo, I am the evil spirit of Ash Collins. DO THE DISHES, OR I'LL MANIPULATE YOU TO HANG YOURSELF!_

Tethys continued speaking. "_Already thousands years ago Styx, my offspring was reserved for me and Oceanus, and written the child of one would one day return, swim without drowning, drown without burning, in this same river. And oh... this millennium has left its trace on what I called loved, but not lost its power! Now bathe, my son, and accept the offer of... immortality."_

I heard Gracie gasp next to me – she definitely was listening. But none of us demigods dared to do anything except listen – Hades was the only one brave enough to step up. Odd enough – I had already forgotten he was still there, as for a second he had seemed so innocent and powerless compared to Tethys.

"_You stole my river, Hades. The splitting of this world was fair, but my son was no part of the deal – you youngsters think you can have everything."_

Oh, darn, how creepy that looked like! Pruce didn't even move his mouth, and inside him came this aunty-like voice – it hadn't sounded aunty before, but now it did. "How dare you!" I heard Hades growl and I bet he shook his fist on Tethys or something – I couldn't tell what was happening, due I had closed my eyes to avoid being blinded by Pruce's light. Hades was the oldest of his brothers, and I think he had some age crisis, so maybe that was what saved him from doing anything reckless.

"Don't accept the offer!" I heard Marié shout again. "Immortality... you... don't _deserve _it. No-one deserves all eternity of pain."

Tethys snarled so loud it shook the cave and re-positioned our bones. "This was a promise given already before you even _existed! _A god or _mortal_ has no right to disturb us."

Hades gave Tethys – or Pruce, the meanest look I had ever seen anyone give to anybody, but I already then knew the power of Mister Meanface would do nothing here. Hades couldn't possibly survive this alone, and what was he fighting against? An invisible force who he knew to be his aunt. Wonderful.

"Go back to Tartarus, you cursed spirit of melancholia!"

I heard Tethys protest, but saw still nothing. I knew Hades had powers over the spirits, powers I couldn't even imagine, and it was so hard to take the fact there was something he actually couldn't – or didn't dare to defeat.

"_Release the oceans within," _Tethys spoke again, through Pruce. _"This is the price for all injustice ever focused on the son of Tethys!"_

Something snapped inside my head then. Something totally did. And though I knew I had to notify Pruce of it, it was impossible to even open my mouth – Tethys spread silent terror all around us.

Then this very freaky part started. I saw how the menacing light in Pruce's eyes got dim for a second, and then we all knew it wasn't Tethys speaking. "Why are you doing this, mother?"

The desperate gaze of his blind eyes tried to look for something they couldn't see.

"_For you, son!" _Tethys continued – Pruce's eyes turned alight again. _"For the injustice! Think of it - how have the minor gods deserved their places in this world? Nemesis has caused nothing but deaths, and it seems like Iris is gaining her glory only by accepting bribes! What next, thrones? Oh, and this older demigod..." _Tethys focus crashed full force on Nico Di Angelo, _"Has received one, lacking godhood!"_

"You lost the war," Hades didn't even wish to look at Pruce's direction, but we could tell he spoke to Tethys. He stared unmovable at his son. "Your palace was crushed to pieces three millennia ago. You lost the war _twice, _isn't that already enough?"

"_I am not evil!" _Tethys continued, which surprised me. Believable, for sure. She had just possessed her own son. _"I did favours for Hera, nurtured these seas as my own children. Styx supported Zeus in the war!"_

"There is no good or evil in this world," Hades continued. "They are only concepts invented by human, and already, since the beginning of this world, there was only power; and enough to lack balance when one takes too much."

"_That was only Kronos," _Tethys probably tried to whisper, but she had such a loud voice, and even mentioning the name shook the cave structure. _"Isn't it already time for the guiltless rulers of this world before the gods to receive their glory? It is time..."_

Marié tripped over with a cry as an earthquake shook the Underworld, earth and sky. Tethys spoke no more, but Pruce was still glowing so inhumane, so bright we saw the aura of no-one else. There was no Pruce there anymore. Only Tethys, who was destroying his own son, brainwashing him better than Titus had even done for me.

I saw Marié take out her caduceus, which was now in the form of a flute. "Pruce?" I heard her ask, but her voice was so silent Pruce couldn't hear it. "Let go!"

The earth started shaking even more – so much Gracie had to take out her shield to protect us from the falling bricks – a pinnacle the size of a school bus crushed into the earth 10 feet from us. Surprisingly, I saw Ivan fall on his knees his fingers crossed, like he was praying. But that wasn't the time of the apocalypse.

"_And the one of the six still unclaimed – the price for his sacrifice will be paid."_

It was Pruce speaking. He glowed still even brighter than he had done when he had run away from us on the hills, but his eyes showed marks of humanity; and he had won.

"The prophecy speaks of an unclaimed child," he sounded like himself again; his voice didn't bring me the shivers – a big boulder seemed to roll off my chest, so I could breathe again. "My price isn't immortality. My sacrifice isn't leaving my friends or this world in trouble. My sacrifice is leaving behind the life I have been doomed to. My price... is becoming claimed."

Suddenly Pruce's glow started to flicker, and I turned to Nico Di Angelo – _the dying... their aura tends to flicker._

But this was only Tethys. The glow flickered until it was all gone, until the shaking stopped. I already was about to rise up and walk to Pruce with all my friends, our Pruce, but then I saw Ivan shudder. I could _see _the shivers on his back, think about that. And next, I knew someone had joined with us.

I had to shake my head twice to tell, was I only imagining. I had to be, but it still seemed so real – how all of a sudden, out of nowhere, like summoning of smoke, there stood a figure next to Hades. The figure was a she – a woman wearing a dark robe like Hades', but hers was more translucent and light, like it weighed nothing. Her long, dark hair flowed up to her waist and was unbelievably thin, looking very fragile. Her skin was paler than snow and her eyes... like gazing straight at the midnight sky.

I knew Hades had known she was coming, though he didn't even look into that direction. The woman stood there as unnoticeable and silent like she had come only as a spectator. For some reason I knew she was a goddess, so looking at her made me wonder would soon the whole Olympus show up.

Pruce walked out of the water, very slowly, and still it was hard to believe he actually had stood in the Styx the water up to his waist for such a long time.

"I don't want to play war anymore," he spoke, in his usual, absent tone. "I don't want to become something I aren't. I am not a hero. I am not a demigod."

I saw how the lady goddess next to Hades raised her right arm very slowly, and if I wasn't crazy I saw how the darkness around her hand seemed to morph into the shape of something – a dark bow – and in seconds, she had already stretched the arrow.

"Don't shoot," I heard Hades command. "It is no use."  
"He is not immortal," the woman spoke for the first time, and her voice made me breathless for a second. It was like her words were part of the darkness around her. They wrapped us all into their enchanting tone. Hades still shook his head, and finally Pruce stood back on the shore.

"Immortality is what a god needs to prevent this world from falling," he spoke. "For me, immortality would only mean an eternity of loneliness."

I think I felt empathy for Pruce then. This familiar breeze started to blow inside me again, but this time it wasn't cold, like it had come from within, not outside. But Pruce didn't cry, nor sigh for a better world.

"The prophecy has been given."

The goddess with the bow and arrow loosened her grip of her weapon. I saw her gaze at Pruce in a mysterious way, and then whisper something to Hades.

"Don't go anywhere, child. You nearly doomed us all."  
Marié stood up, but her eyes glimmering of fear. "No! It wasn't his fault."  
Hades huffed and took a step towards Marié. His aura started to gather its strength again, and in no time, all of us – Pruce, Ivan, Gracie and me, stood behind Marié's back, to defend her.

"Oh great! Now I've got an army of you kids here! I wonder how do you dare – especially you, daughter of Morpheus."  
I clutched my fists as if willing to hit Hades in the middle of the face. "I don't fear you."  
"That is what you think you should feel, fear? I believe more you should feel _remorse – _that might still save your soul from being thrown to-"  
"Tartarus, I know it! That's all you even think about! We have done _nothing – _can you blame us from the fact that we do exist? You have blamed our parents already enough, and you are the one who should be blamed. Look at you – standing here on the shore plotting for murder as you could be nurturing your younger son or planning your revenge on Mickey Mouse. STOP KILLING PEOPLE!"

That sure silenced him up. I noticed I was panting – I wasn't very brilliant in the verbal arts, and insults like that drained my strength like a very tough hockey game. When Hades then finally thought of something to say, I was surprised. I had made him speechless.

"Oh... argh... hmph... fine! But remember, _we will be watching you, _- I will send a report of you both-" he took turns in gazing me and Pruce in the eyes, "to Olympus... and if they will find out this treachery, there will always be a place waiting for you... _here."_

Hades closed his eyes for a second, rubbing his nose. It seemed very strange, like gods _tickled. _Then he finally exchanged looks with his demigod son, and with a nod, they said goodbyes.

"Take these ungrateful kids back to the surface. And if you see Charon on the way, tell them to apologize – especially this Pruce here, from blocking the traffic, you know."

Hades nodded towards Styx, and his son seemed to blush; I could still see this young light in his eyes, though worries made him look older than he really was. I hadn't even remembered we had came with his chariot until then; he gnashed his teeth noticing the whole thing had toppled over in the earthquake and the horses had ran away, leaving behind traces of their hoofs made in panic, and a nice pile of something a little inappropriate to mention right then.

"Well, I guess it's time. I just wish we'd have a son of Poseidon here to call a Pegasus or two to help. Hitler and Napoleon always run away when they see my father."

I sorta snickered – laughing helped to ease the weight of the world in the middle of such worries and darkness. Nice names for horses Nico Di Angelo was giving.

I took my last glance on the Styx, hoping this was the last time I'd see it until time would come. We had trashed it, for sure. Still unmovable, the goddess in black stood behind Hades, his bow and arrow now gone, but her arms crossed and an expression on her face which made her look stunningly beautiful. Before we left (after we had pushed the chariot back on its wheels and Gracie had made a few adjustments) I was sure the goddess whispered something to Ivan. I hadn't ever been really good in reading from lips, but her sentence was short enough for me to almost understand it: _you failed._

_

* * *

_

Napoleon and Hitler didn't return though Nico Di Angelo kept on howling after them – I guess he stank too much like Hades. "I'd use this old hell-hound of mine," he told us, whispering, "But well... she's gained a little weight. Auntie Demeter visits us every winter and forces us to eating Granola every day... We all hate it, so it's usually given to the dog. I guess she's lost her sense of taste already or something."

I saw Gracie shudder – I hadn't yet had the time to ask, but I bet she either loved dogs or hated Granola, because she looked really like in pain – even more than usual. When we then finally were leaving we noticed two horses had appeared there out of somewhere – Nico Di Angelo recognised the first one as one of his tyrant-named mates, but the other seemed to be somehow strange. I couldn't know all the horses Nico Di Angelo and his father stored in the Underworld, but this one was different than any of the ones seen before; it looked like a white sheep in the middle of 20 black ones. Shrugging his shoulders, the Lord of Spririts though accepted it, and in no time we were on the road again; riding our way to the surface again, following the shore of the Styx. The scenery flew by so fast I really saw nothing, so I decided to turn to Nico Di Angelo. It seemed somehow rude to speak only to the back of his head, but we'd crash and burn if he'd start turning around. We moved all the time further from the depths of the Underworld, and I turned my gaze to Ivan, who had this mysterious depth in his eyes, which hadn't been there before. It brought me something in mind...

"What's the thing with you and Asphodel Meadows?" I tried to sorta act inauspiciously, because I always managed to ruin everything by sounding too curious. "It seemed like your resistance to stop there wasn't because you really wanted to save us, no offense. I saw how you looked around-"

Nico Di Angelo silenced me with a serious gaze of his. Thank gods he was used to riding that route, because he could turn around without his focus from riding losing then. I noticed how the Lord of the Spirits sighed deeply and stared at Ivan; like they shared the same problem.

"It has been about exactly 12 years from my sister's death."

He didn't look at me anymore, but I knew he had pain in his eyes; it was already in his voice. Nico's sister. I wondered what had her name been, had she had the same father? A daughter of Hades... dead. It was a strange world we lived in.

"I was 10, then."

Only 10? No wonder Nico Di Angelo looked so old – the shadows on his face, the sorrow. He was only about twenty. No-one should face death that young; everyone should face death at _some _point, but in my opinion death was a thing which everyone should get used to without any major losses. Like the death of some adored actor or a pet. Not your own sister.

"She died to save her friends. It took me a long time to understand it was actually her will... even for me, taking something like that isn't easy. It isn't easy to _believe."_

I kept on listening. Different thoughts started clouding my mind, like thoughts of an own sister. What would it feel like? Thoughts of a normal family. Nico Di Angelo had one, once. Even I had my own family, but now... I didn't really know how the things were anymore.

"My whole family is dead," the Lord of Spirits spoke, as if he would've read my thoughts. "So long have I walked this world alone."

"But what about your father? And Persephone and Demeter, and Pablo? Aren't they some sort of family to you?"

I heard this sound which reminded me of someone gnashing their teeth – I didn't know it could make such noise. I think Marié next to me was listening; I could _see _how her ears were open, how she was eager to know more; I knew she had miserable thoughts of what a _family _was. Maybe she wanted someone to identify with.

"My father especially," Nico Di Angelo said in an amused tone. "Dead to the world. He's been like that always. Never shows off to people, and there's no such word as 'future' in his vocabulary. He's been wearing that same robe thousands of years..."

I bit my lips not to smile at the thought – I guess the gods' clothes cleaned themselves or something, but Hades sure had a great fashion sense. "He doesn't sound like great of a father, then..."

"That's what many would say. I often myself forget that I even like him when he isn't mad."

And then Nico Di Angelo smiled; glancing time after time at the Styx, to see if there was some ferryman going there. "Charon doesn't have much job nowadays. Awfully many choose Death Harbour instead – Charon's losing an awful amount of profit. Poor man."

The sentence sounded strange, but understandable. Gods, immortals and... ferrymen needed their money for living from somewhere, too. That sentence seemed to separate us from the Underworld, because before we even knew, there was this odd tug in our stomachs. I opened my eyes, not even remembering when I had closed them – the scenery glimmered in bright sunlight.


	22. HOLLYWOOD, THE HORSE, AND THE WHORE

**PART 7: LIGHT**

THIS IS WHAT I CALL TRANSFORMERS

I guess Nico Di Angelo wanted to see the earth every now and then – for he decided to take us up to Los Angeles centre so we could take a taxi there, though his father didn't agree with it. I just hoped we wouldn't have to pay taxes from wrecking the HOLLYWOOD-sign (formerly known as _Holywood)_ and crashing through the gardens of a couple of celebrities – with a freakin' huge black chariot. I had heard of Mist before, and the Lord of Spirits told us the mortals would see the thing as a hearse or something. I bet it stank too, due there wasn't anyone around for until we came to the centre. There even Nico Di Angelo jumped off, telling us he really wished to eat a Happy Meal. Mc Donald's was really in bankruptcy then, so he tried to support it as much as he possibly could. We parked our chariot in this very dark multi-store parkade which looked almost abandoned, and if I didn't imagine (which I probably did) a Mc Donald's had appeared in the other end of the lot in the snap of Nico Di Angelo's fingers.

Before leaving, though, he stared at the other horse very carefully, like he was seeing something familiar in it, and abruptly, he turned to us. "Anyone saw where that came from?" he asked. Nearly all of us shook our heads, except Pruce.

"I did," he answered silently. "While you all were there fixing that chariot, I saw it. I guess it came out of the water."

"...out of the water?"

Pruce tilted his head.

I saw Nico Di Angelo press his lips so tightly together they turned almost white. He squinted his eyes a little, but then he shook his head, like awakening from a trance. "No... it can't be. Well... look after it. I'm so hungry I could kill."

We all gave the Lord of Spirits these down-turned smiles as he, rubbing his stomach, walked away to order his Happy Meal at the restaurant in the end of the garage. Looking at him moving further from us, his dark robe seemed to turn into this type of long leather jacket all Goths used. We five then sat there all silent for a second, until Gracie started gazing doubtfully into all directions, so we had to ask her was everything right.

"Pruce, did you say that horse... came from the water?"

Pruce mumbled his answer, but though Gracie probably didn't even hear it, she just kept on acting all paranoid; finally she even jumped out of the chariot, nearly tumbling down on the asphalt.

"The Styx?"

Pruce looked sorta unsure, like he always did, but then he tilted his head again. I wonder, who he reminded me of; the Underworld seemed to have brought me so many new worries, I couldn't remember the old ones anymore.

Suddenly Gracie looked like she was about to crack up laughing, but I knew that was her surprised!-face. Her gaze lingered on the lighter horse for a time which seemed all eternity, and before I even knew, Marié had walked by her side.

"Am I... sorry, I and Marié... the only ones who really believe... that this is odd?"

I bit my lips. "Eh... that doesn't really look like the other horses, but... no."

Gracie lowered her head like to examine the horse's teeth. _"And the child slaid through the elder's hand... shall rise from the rivers beneath the land."_

When I and Ivan heard that, we went totally facepalm. The prophecy had come true; we had traveled through the forbidden waters by going to Death Harbour, and the quirrell between the fathers had been solved too. Pruce had his price paid, and the end for one's calling... it hadn't meant anyone's death, but maybe, just maybe, it had been for me – the way I didn't anymore long for my father, or then for Ivan, because he had understood the dead couldn't be risen from where they were. But what had happened to the child slaid through the elder's hand? The calling-thing could still happen, due our journey hadn't ended yet, but we weren't anymore beneath the land – nor there was any river even close.

Had Pruce said that the _horse _had risen from the rivers? Styx...

THE HORSE.

"Pruce... are you _absolutely sure _that horse came from the river?"  
Pruce looked bored – he hadn't ever really liked answering questions. "Yes."

I, Ivan and he jumped all off Nico Di Angelo's chariot. Looking it from faraway, it almost looked like a hearse, so I moved closer to see the horses.

The dead horse looked bored, just like Pruce – it kept on neighing and stamping his hoofs, but the river-horse stared at us with his odd eyes all awake, like we would then give him a carrot or something. Gracie looked almost amused. He turned to Pruce her eyes so wide it scared me.

"I must be crazy," she said, silently. "This isn't nice at all... this can't be the _prophecy... _I mean, it spoke of a _child, _not a _foal, _really."

"We know," Ivan raised his eyebrows. "So you are crazy."  
"What you then went all facepalm there, when I you know... mentioned the prophecy?"

Ivan seemed to turn pale. I bet he also knew this was about our only option – if this was Hitler or whoever of Nico Di Angelo's crazy horses, there would be no problem, but already the proof Pruce had made us so paranoid we started thinking this freakin' horse was a part of the prophecy.

"_You are not crazy."_

Horrible shivers ran on our backs. I remembered closing my eyes and hearing how Marié screamed "_Horse! ...GUY!"_ and feeling how Ivan flinched backwards so his back hit my nose, causing human dominoes, due Pruce behind me fell on his butt – the celestial bronze dagger I had given to him flew from its scabbard and cut the asphalt, sticking from the parking space like a knife from butter.

I shook my head and stared at the chariot, which looked now almost exactly like a hearse. As Pruce behind me tried to pull his dagger from the asphalt, the others of us almost left him there, due we were in such panic – Ivan was already taking his steps towards the Mc Donald's, but he was pulled back by Gracie.

For a second I already thought I was staring at Fredrick Hayes, the Apollo boy who had been Marié's flute tutor on the camp, due this random guy right there looked so similar to him – they both had all white clothing and this slight tan, same blondish hair and sorta the same eyes, too, but there was a difference in them. As Fredrick had these amber eyes which looked like they had a miniature sun spinning there, the eyes of this guy were solid gold. Time seemed to freeze when looking into them.

"Who the Hades are you?"

I sounded just like May Everdale, the freaky Hermes girl who had been pointing her knife at me when I first came at the camp, but I bet this dude here totally wasn't from the camp. I knew he couldn't be a mortal – he had just come out of nowhere and wore this Greek tunic which _totally _didn't look mortal, but still... I hadn't seen him at the camp either. It was about impossible for me to tell his age. He was as tall as Gracie, but had this child-like voice, and looked physically maybe about 25. I felt this tickle in my back, like about five people would be staring me then, but no-one actually said anything, not even the random guy.

"Who of you is the son of Tethys?"

Whaat? He just turned his back on me, though I had asked a question, and now he was thanking Pruce, who had raised his hand very shy and slow, like he feared his mum would take over him again. The random guy stared even at Ivan and Marié and Gracie, but not at me. So I did a big mistake – poked him.

I guess he wasn't really used to strangers poking him or had a fear of being touched, because the next thing I knew was this guy was pointing at me with a freakin' _scythe. _And let me say; if you've never been pointed at with a scythe, don't ever think about it. It's scarier than Tartarus. Almost. Well, nothing is actually scarier than Tartarus. But right then I really managed to say nothing more than "uh-huh."

I guess the guy wouldn't even have either been lowering his scythe, but right then I heard a door opening and fixed my eyes to the direction I knew the Mc Donald's being in. I was just about to plead for mercy or tell Pruce to strike his dagger into this guy's back, but when I turned around I saw no-one – just me, in this freaky position like some invisible force was trying to attack me. I took a deep breath in relief, but must've looked still pretty paranoid.

Nico Di Angelo came to us carrying two bags of Happy Meals and one Greek Salad. "Curses! I should've known the celebrities in Los Angeles hide in some underground restaurant like this – I guess Lady GaGa had a problem with her burgers, or something."  
Marié's eyes widened. "There's _Lady GaGa?!"_

Ivan dug his elbow into her ribs, so she winched – that hurt even me, so to such a tiny person like Marié that must've been like torture. But I agreed by Ivan, surprisingly, due I wanted to complain to the Lord of Spirits about this random guy pointing me with a scythe, who had disappeared just as the freaky horse pulling Nico Di Angelo's chariot...

...THE FREAKIN' HORSE.

I think I looked like I was doing the robot dance considering the way I started twitching, but no-one really cared; they had stared at me, due everyone already understood, except me. Oh gods, how bright I was.

* * *

When this blonde bimbo strolled out of Mc Donald's with three gorillas the size of closets and Marié yelled from the top of her throat; _SING PAPARAZZI! _(Lady GaGa must've got some real stalker image from her, and anyway, I'd never dare to yell something to Kelly Clarkson in the front of a hearse) Nico Di Angelo seemed to notice the eh... horse was gone. As he packed his Happy Meals into this random locker someone had built in his chariot he kept on peeking at me and Pruce, like we'd be guilty to his horse-theft. "Where's the other horse? _Oh, there you are, Hitler!_ What's happened to your moustache?"

_The horse had a moustache? _I heard Lady GaGa and her closet-mates runaway the second the horse galloped to the parkade, so I wonder really how the Mist made it look like. Nico Di Angelo started attaching the horse into the chariot he then told to be his father's (it was way too huge for him anyway) and acted like all was well, but it definitely wasn't. I think Ivan saw my anxiety, because he looked sorta funny when he walked to exchange a few words with the Lord of Spirits.

"Hitler's always there to surprise me. I wonder how he found his way from the Underworld here, right on his own!"

I didn't wonder at all. It isn't hard to smell something dead when it passes by.

"Yes, but didn't your father make a dartboard of him?"

Nico Di Angelo laughed. "There's a lot of use to the wickedest villains."

Then Gracie stepped up, playing with the golden ringlet she could morph into about anything. "Shouldn't we..."

Ivan nodded his head and probably tried to say something, but apparently Nico Di Angelo was too busy explaining who of the villains in history had been morphed into toilet fresheners and Hades' underwear. I dunno why Ivan or Gracie – or even me, did nothing, but perhaps we felt sorta pity for the Lord of Spirits, as he was so lonely and needed someone to talk to for a while. It wasn't until the time he jumped back on his chariot when we actually got to talk to him, and even them he kept only repeating how he was in a terrible rush, due his father didn't want his Greek Salad with dried feta cheese.

"Oh, and if you call the Grey Siblings, tell them the Lord of Spirits will pay. I've got some spare money to use, anyway."

"But don't go yet!" Ivan clutched onto this freaky decoration sticking out of the front of the chariot. "That horse of yours..."  
Nico Di Angelo wrinkled his eyebrows, but said nothing yet.

"The one you couldn't recognize..."

"Oh, that?" the Lord of Spirits spoke in this oddly hazy tone, like he didn't wish to speak about it, and escaped into his own little world. "I wonder where it went. Those eyes... I'm sure I've seen them before."

Ivan let go of the decoration, making a huge mistake – because before we even knew, the Lord of Spirits was already gone, leaving behind only the sound of hoofs and a smell of death.

We left the parkade oddly silent, like no-one could think of anything to say. And it was the truth – we were still sorta confused of the horse-episode; it had felt so unreal and yet so real it had to be; I could still feel the cold touch of that scythe and remember how time seemed to not exist when looking into those endless eyes, but who was that guy? We already knew he was more than man, but _horse... _We were already used to centaurs, but not to guys, who could morph from one body to another, unless they were gods. I hadn't ever seen anyone like that, but Marié had met goddess Artemis, who she told to be a great shapeshifter. I wonder did she miss Doris, her old friend. Maybe she could send her a card.

We didn't really feel willing to call the Grey Siblings up again. The last time on their cab had been simply torture, but this time the journey wasn't that long, and we could always borrow some bullets from Gracie in need of blocking our ears. But the main problem in that grey cab wasn't listening to the quirrell. Let's just call it a bumpy ride.

I even suggested shadow travel, because sitting in such an uncomfortable vehicle was really a pain in the arse, but the trip from Los Angeles to the camp was a little longer than from Oregon to California. That'd take us many days, and I think we'd either starve or freeze to death; it was already getting sorta chilly there more in north. Ivan also told that shadow travel really drained his strength, kinda like Marié's healing, my pathetic verbal attempts and Pruce's ship drowning; I hadn't yet seen Gracie really being exhausted of her demigod strengths, and I sorta envied her. She never really had to worry about anything.

But thinking of stuff like that, it made me really hungry. I wondered when I had last eaten – thinking of it made me really feel dizzy. We ate at this very cheap Chinese restaurant next to some hotel with cabs waiting in the front – this time Gracie had to call up the Grey siblings, due Ivan's lap was filled with cups looking like the ones at Starbucks, except the shade of green was too dark and had Chinese text on it, and he was too busy munching his Chinese sandwich. I had to even admire Gracie – now that I thought about it, she could pronounce Greek much better than Ivan did, and the taxi even showed up earlier. It though sorta felt relieving to travel inside for a change; shadow travel and that Death-chariot were sorta distressing.

"Isn't it you kids again!" the _life is a ride!-_grandma began. This time she was the one with the crazy eye – only one eye, exactly. "Where this time? And this time we want more money, you pinchpennies!"

Ivan was already placing his 10 Chinese Starbucks-mugs on the benches and trying to get out his chequebook, when I reminded him of Nico Di Angelo's promise of payment, and in that time Pruce, Marié and Gracie took over the bests seats (if there were any) and there weren't anything left than the baby seat and the spot right behind the driver – the same spot Ivan had sat the last time. I bet he though had sorta bad experiences of it, so he climbed to the baby seat – it was a little narrow for him, so he almost squished me and Marié. "Sit next to the door, Ivan!" I heard him say, but he just rolled his eyes. "Move, you lazy bastard! I don't want you to sit in my cursed _lap _or spill cheap Chinese coffee on me."

Ivan though just stayed where he was, and yes, he sat half way in mine and Marié's lap – I felt sorry for poor little Marié – she should've gotten that baby seat. Finally we ended up sitting in some totally random order after the siblings got tired to our slowness, and one of the siblings turned us asking for their money. "Well, tell us the location, already! Or we will demand for twice the price!"  
"The Lord of Spirits will pay," I leaned over to the front bench, where the sisters were again fighting for their eye. "We came with him."  
"The Lord of Spirits, eh? Has he got money? What's his account number?"

Ivan huffed. "He doesn't have an account. But let's just say... his father rules the Underworld."

"The Underworld?" as the siblings heard that word, they all turned to us – staring at us with their empty eyes, except the one sitting in the middle, right in front of Ivan, who had only one green eye. I was almost sure, that if they would have complete pairs of eyes, it would be like looking at a slot machine.

Maybe the siblings had before had some Underworld resident on board or they just were in a good mood, due the ride was much more pleasant this time. The bumps couldn't be avoided or anything, but we moved in a good speed towards the camp, and wondered should we send an Iris message to Chiron – the only problem was the fact we had ran all out of drachmae; we had left them as a payment to that cheap restaurant. Thank gods it was Chinese; they didn't understand drachmae wasn't an official currency.

The Grey Siblings didn't drive us all the way to the camp; they told the reason was the fact _Hate _was unwilling to give the eye to her sister with an even freakier name. We found ourselves soon from the middle of the forest; it was already evening, and Ivan had only two coffee mugs left – she gave the other one to Gracie, and stopped to ponder in which direction the camp were. He wasn't a very great navigator in my opinion, though he kept on bragging with it. Soon Pruce though took the lead; he told us he followed the sound of the sea, and he, if anyone, was good in knowing where it was. Before we though really got to move anywhere, we heard a voice.

"_Missed me?"_

I felt the shivers on my back and turned around – wishing so much I hadn't done so.

There, right there, about ten feet from us, stood the same guy we had ran into at the parkade in Los Angeles. This time he didn't have his scythe in his hands, but he freaked me out in the same, creepy way. Those eyes... Who was this dude?

"How did you follow us?" Gracie gasped her eyes wide. "You... who _are _you?"

The figure came closer, and instinctively, we all moved closer to eachother, arming ourselves – Pruce taking out his dagger, Gracie her light sword and Ivan his darker one; Marié her flute and I my drug-needle. It felt like the last time when I used it was a million years ago.

"You are the one mentioned in the prophecy," Pruce told silently. _"The child slaid through the elder's hand. _I saw you already in the Underworld... but how are you alive?"  
The unknown demigod... or whatever he was, stared at us with his incredible eyes. "I was slaid so long ago... I haven't even count the years. This is a wondrous world we live in. For all these years I have been planning my new world, and thanks to the immortality the son of Tethys left behind, I, who was doomed into death by my own father, have risen again."  
_"Who are you?" _

The stranger looked at Gracie very carefully, like she willed to read her mind, but watched out for not slipping a couple of his own thoughts into her mind on the way. I bet it was a nasty feeling, but Gracie didn't do anything; even Marié twitched more than her. I guess the stranger thought Marié willed to poke him too, because when I checked, I saw him holding his scythe again. Next to me, Ivan's eyes widened, and I saw him take a swig of his coffee, but swallowing seemed impossible.

"I am the bringer of balance, on my way to fix this world. The others call me the son of Nemesis, the others... what they know as the Grim Reaper."

Ivan spat the rest of coffee he had in his mouth on his shoes, Pruce looked like he had seen some crazy ghost and Marié winched – but I just squinted my eyes like I hadn't understood what the boy had said. Okay, Nemesis was familiar to me, but nothing in that boy reminded me of the Nemesis kids we had on the camp; only his slightly tanned skin colour and the way his eyes squinted, but the colour... they seemed to bring everything into someone's mind, but I just thought of Fredrick Hayes.

"Who is the traitor?" Gracie took a step forward, stepping on the coffee mug she had dropped into the ground. "The slayer."

"My father, whose name I wished to say nevermore," the stranger continued. "I am Keres, the son of Kronos."


	23. AN ALTERNATE ENDING

**PART 7: LIGHT**

AN ALTERNATE ENDING

Blank. Or that's at least that's what was going on my mind right then.

Kronos. Kronos. Kronos. Who in this damn world was _Kronos? _The whole earth seemed to rumble as the only thing I thought of was his name; going through this mean cycle all the time, and those golden eyes.

I guess I should've known. Someone should've _told_ me, damn it, because I saw there nothing more than a stranger called Keres, some resurrected guy who had lived like a 3000 years ago and wore still the same tunic. I just remember Ivan went all crazy then; it turned very dark and I winched; "you're making it night, Ivan!" but he didn't seem to care. The sun went down in hyperspeed, Marié acted hyper, Pruce held his dagger in such a tight grip I wonder it didn't fall apart, even Gracie seemed surprised.

"I am not my father," Keres spoke in his odd tone; it was so... calming. "He knew it since the beginning, but he also knew I was a big mistake, because now it is my time to return balance in this world."

He leaned onto his celestial bronze scythe, and suddenly all the pieces were coming together. "_The others call me the son of Nemesis, the others... what they know as the Grim Reaper."_

Keres was the son of Kronos and Nemesis.

He didn't wear a black cape, was neither a skeleton... but he claimed himself to be the guy stealing our souls. Or at least the guy _usually _resembling death.

Ivan swallowed so loud even I could hear it. "How... how could I let this happen? I should've known... a freakin' horse, that's Kronos!"

And he nearly sounded like me, too. Again I wished I'd know more of the Greek myths, but my knowledge on them was really only what I had seen on the introduction film. I wish I wouldn't have started thinking of it. Because right then I understood who was Kronos.

"Uh... huh."

Keres took a few steps closer. "What do you fear? Explain."

Ivan turned to me; I guess he knew I didn't really understand what was going on. He spoke all silent, but I bet Keres could hear that; he didn't even _have _a mortal parent.

"Kronos is the Lord of the Titans, Elea. He... I should've known, already from the horse! For example Chiron's case... Chiron is a son of Kronos. He's a centaur, due Kronos approached his mother in the form of a horse. Why couldn't I remember..."

"If you would've, could've you prevented this? He's been following us from since the Underworld!"

I think Marié heard us too, so she turned to our direction, but kept on peeking at Keres, due she probably feared he'd kill us if we didn't focus on him. "And now you're blaming Pruce? If he would've have accepted the offer, then-"  
Ivan sighed silently. "No. His immortal power flowed into the Styx, but hasn't it been there always? It's the prophecy this time. This couldn't have been prevented. Now we only must... find out."

"Enough talking!" Keres cried in his oddly... kind voice. "It is time to pay back. Until this, the human kind has believed in the Grim Reaper as a form of death, but I am not the Lord of the Dead. I am the bringer of balance. In the beginning of this world everything was still in equal. And then the great mistake was made... here we have come."

I started memorising these certain words Hades had said to Tethys when she called herself not evil.

"_There is no good or evil in this world. They are only concepts invented by human, and already, since the beginning of this world, there was only power; and enough to lack balance when one takes too much."_

How much we had power in that situation? Had it been written that in the end, Keres would be the one having the only power, power even over our souls and fate; and now the verse of the prophecy we were so unsure of; _and the journey shall be the end of one's calling... _would come true?

That's what I feared so.

"I thank you, son of Tethys, but there is nothing I can give you in return. That has been already written and told. But you…"

I saw Ivan turn pale as Keres gazed straight at him. I had always thought of one's gaze piercing the soul as frightening, just like the way Hades and Ivan looked at me, but the way Keres eyes were so fascinating one could look at them forever, forgetting the flow of time… I must say it made me fear for Ivan more than I had even feared for myself.

When Keres stared at Ivan, I saw him drop his dark sword and lose is concentration fully; the sun had already gone dim, but seemed to bring back its light. I instinctively moved closer to Ivan and pointed my drug-needle at Keres; I must've looked like a total maniac, but how could I help myself?

"This is your price of the soul of Viquel Chesapeake," Keres tightened his grip on his scythe and seemed to have pity in his heavy-lidded eyes; something he must've inherited from his mother – which was too kinda hard to imagine. "An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. A soul for a soul."

I stepped up, pulled my needle and cast one desperate glance on Gracie, who had so many weapons she if someone could defend Ivan, but I bet even she was stunned by the fact this guy probably was immortal, invincible and death dangerous. _"This is your price of the soul of Viquel Chesapeake…" _– how could he? Ivan had his life ruined because of those Cyclops killing his most loved friend, and what was this Keres about to do?

"No."

Keres turned his head at me. "What? This son of Night needs his price paid."  
"He has paid already!" I cried. "Why are you…"

Keres closed his eyes and shook his head. "Behold."

He took a couple of ten steps forward, towards these woods with an open in the middle; without resistance we followed him, but I felt like there was ice running through my veins; every time I looked at Ivan whose face was so pale I didn't bear to see, it felt like my blood circle was stopping.

In the woods there was this tall rock, but it wasn't Zeus' fist from the camp – I wonder how far we were from the borders; if someone would distract Keres, and in the meanwhile we would run? Pruce was the only one who he wouldn't kill, and we didn't dare to risk him. We wouldn't live him alone anymore.

When Keres hit the ground with his scythe, something pretty odd happened. The ground was all covered in autumn leaves, orange, red, yellow. From Keres power I saw the leaves rise like they had been caught in wind. Suddenly all looked like it had gone hyperspeed – the leaves circled the ground and the air, and it seemed like everything was going in reverse; the trees turned more green, the leaves re-attached to their branches, even the clouds covering the sky moved in a speed which was horrid to watch; the wind up there was so fast it would rip every tree and every house apart if it'd blow where we stood. We also saw certain figures, like different animals prancing and running from where we stood – we even saw a freakin' _bear,_ but nothing of it was real – Keres was reversing time.

And then we heard noises.

"_We're so close. Don't give up, now!"_

The voice sounded somehow familiar, but distinguished; maybe, because we only were looking at some slideshow in time.

"This is the last clue," the voice of a girl said. Everything she said sounded like she was singing and she spoke in this sorta old-fashioned way. _"Where penetrate can nor wind, nor storm, where shadows lie no earlier than morn; where assemble the faithful chasers of dawn, existence depending on destiny's cards. _That has to mean the camp! The borders forbid the weather from pervading there, and the chasers of dawn… the descendants of Hemera!"

"You are so right, Viquel. But what is this place?"

My blood finally froze when I heard that name – and right then I knew what I was watching. Now I knew why everything had sounded familiar, why everything seemed familiar. From behind the rock I saw two figures coming – a boy with dark curls he had combed out of his face and the exactly same clothes he had on now, as he stood there next to me; behind her a girl in a rainbow dress and red rubber boots, a cherish face.

The way Ivan looked at Viquel made me wonder. It was so different from the way he looked at others, people like Gracie, Marié and Pruce, but he looked at me in an exactly similar way – so similar it frightened me. _Through _Viquel.

"Can you carry me? I am weary."

I looked at Viquel's knees in fright – they weren't on bruises like Gracie's, but shaking, like she was struggling to stay on her feet. Ivan stayed silent, and I wondered why, but soon I understood the reason. He had been looking all the time at our direction – I wondered how Ivan could stand looking at himself like that; and he didn't. His eyes were closed and fists clutched; he didn't bear to see this. I though saw how he whispered something – and I didn't have to read from lips to hear. _"Now."_

"_WE FOUND YOU!" _This voice grumbled so unexpectedly and so loud I winced. "Look! This is the fiend from Florida! WE FOUND HIM, LOOK!"  
"How can I _look,_ brother, that _demon_ blinded me with a cursed DART!"

Suddenly a shadow fell on our faces – or a… _shadow. _I didn't see any shadow, but from right there where I was standing, there had appeared some monster; and judging of what it had just said, it was one of those Cyclops Ivan had met already when he hadn't even known of his heritance. I looked at the other Cyclops who was further away from me in terror; he was totally blind. His huge eye was nothing more than hate and a bunch of snapped veins, but he could smell Ivan and Viquel for sure, as monsters had their extraordinary sense of smell. I saw how Viquel's eyes widened and she took out a blade which looked like a machete; it glimmered in all the colours of the rainbow. Ivan stood in front of her, glancing at her desperately – he didn't know could he survive this time.

"Hah!" The Cyclops in front of me thundered. "Looks like the dart-boy has ran out of his darts! Now he's pointing us with a teeny dark blade!"

"A dark blade?" The blind Cyclops asked – he had this odd tone in his voice, like he was frightened. "That could be Stygian!"  
"Stygian…" the first Cyclops seemed to think about it. "What's Stygian?"  
Ivan lowered his eyebrows. It was bright day – the worst possible time any monster could attack him, but he raised his blade. "The synonym to death!" He cried, taking two quick steps from side to side and pointing his sword like he was about to cut the Cyclops necks, but he did actually nothing – the Cyclops got confused of Ivan's distraction and thumped his huge leg in to the ground so the earth rumbled; Viquel closed her eyes to prevent the pain.  
"You weaklings!" The Cyclops bawled. "Run for your lives! You don't stand a chance!"

"Wrong!" Viquel screamed, swaying her machete like she wanted to strike it to the Cyclops eye, but I was surprised of what she did next – she only rose it up high so the sun could be reflected from it – a blinding spectre of light flashed straight from the blade, imprinting into the sight of both Cyclops; the one next to me growled in fury.

"I can still hear you, stupid girl!" he moved closer to Ivan and Viquel, and they started circling the huge rock – the Cyclops burst a part of it with his fist, and even we had to move to see what was happening; though no-one actually dared. "I can still smell you, stupid heroes!"

"Then we'll slice your nose off!" Ivan lifted his sword and swung it slicing a huge cut into the blind Cyclops' face, but it only made it angrier; I saw Viquel collapse to the ground as another rumbling shook the earth. The Cyclops couldn't see, but heard how Ivan started screaming Viquel's name, and started doing this dance which caused the earth rumble like there was an earthquake – Ivan took support of the rock. "Come and get me!" I heard him yell, and right then I saw the real Ivan next to me press his lips and eyes even tighter together, like he was seeing everything through his closed eyelids.

"DIE!"

The Cyclops hit Ivan right on the forehead so I winched – but Ivan only shook his head like someone had hit him with a super ball, and suddenly I understood he had this dark barrier around him, like a cloak made of a starry sky, which protected from the Cyclops attacks.

"Why-won't-you-die!"  
The Cyclops made his mistake. When he was too busy thumping Ivan on the top of his head and pressing him against the rock, Ivan struck his blade straight into its heart – the whole monster disappeared in a crazy puff of golden dust which looked like glitter, and his mate growled so loud it hurt even my ears. I knew I had watched it up to this point before; the point when Ivan's barrier went dim like a dying lantern and he fell to his knees, next to Viquel – the Cyclops' shadow covered them in its dark desperacy.

"Viquel, go," Ivan breathed. He was panting and had drops of sweat on his forehead – that shield-trick must've really drained his strength. "I'll kill this last one!"  
"I don't have the strength to run. Let me fight with you!"

The last Cyclops was approaching, groping the air to see where Ivan and Viquel were. Then I saw Ivan gnash his teeth and rise from the ground his sword as a support, looking at Viquel like the sight of her would blind him; like she was radiating bright light, and he turned to the Cyclops who seemed to have got Viquel's scent. "YOU MURDERED MY BROTHER!" The monster growled, reaching out to Ivan – and then I saw something I hadn't seen before.

"I did!" Viquel cried in her melodic voice, and I knew what she was thinking then. She tried to jump in the Cyclops way to fall instead of Ivan, but then Ivan strolled towards the monster and _threw _her aside; he saw how her machete lay there in the ground and he gave up his sword, pulling the machete back and striking the blade into the Cyclops' eye. A bright flash erupted from the blade, forming this spectre in every colour of the rainbow – the Cyclops disappeared, including the blade.

The Ivan from the past stared for a second straight into my direction, as if he was seeing me there, but it wasn't Ivan who I was looking at. Mine and his focus turned in the same time to Viquel, who lay next to this huge rock unmovable. Ivan fell to his knees next to her, first he moved his hand to touch her forehead as if to wake him up, but then he saw something. He turned a little to see Viquel from the other direction, and I think he noticed what I did too – the rock wall was stained with blood, dripping off the back of Viquel's head, colouring her hair. Ivan's eyes widened, they might've even moistened, though he didn't cry – and then he rose up, running straight into the direction we would've moved if Keres hadn't come in the way. That second I remembered he was still there, and the real Ivan next to me – he had turned his back on me, but I knew his eyes were wide open.

"_It's my fault... Viquel's death..." "...Viquel Chesapeake. She walks this world, and a thousand years it does take for you to find her – the price for losing her." "Remember, Elea? How I blamed everything to be my fault? Do not forget."_

The Cyclops hadn't killed Viquel.

I turned to Ivan, my eyes full of fear. "You killed her."

"It was an accident!" Ivan answered, but his voice sounded awful – it seemed like it was about to collapse on every syllable. "I didn't want her to die instead of me... if I need to die, I will die myself."

I swallowed, looking at the place where Viquel had laid. Now it was only filled with red and orange leaves, but I was sure I could still see the blood stained on the rock.

I set one pleading gaze at Keres, who had already raised his scythe; not understanding.

"You call yourself the bringer of balance? The Grim Reaper? The son of Kronos? Call you whatever you wish to, but to me, you are only a freakin' _pony!"_

Keres blinked his heavy-lidded eyes. "Yes?"

"It is impossible to bring absolute balance," even Marié dared to say. "I believe even your mother didn't want this! If she did, Nemesis is the craziest goddess ever."  
"For me, it isn't", Keres protested. "I have all eternity."  
I was about to say something, maybe Gracie too, but then Ivan stepped up, taking a break which felt like eternity, and then closing his eyes. "I cannot let this happen. Take me."

I pressed my nails into my palms so hard they would bleed again; when Keres swung his scythe to throw us aside, I focused on the time; trying to slow him up, to make him tired, to make him fall asleep.

"One of you is the daughter of Morpheus."

I shuddered. What was he up to now?

"You have a price of your own to be paid too. Encounter it!"

Keres struck the ground with his scythe, and I think he did some time-trick again; or then something even worse. _He changed history. _I just knew he reversed the time to the moment Ivan had run away, and yet again I could see Viquel's shattered body there in the ground, her blood-stained hair, but no Ivan, and it was still autumn. The worst thing wasn't though any of these. I had no idea of how Keres did it, but soon we could see the Cyclops there again; both of them, and neither was blind. I just knew they probably were very angry, very vengeful and very bloodthirsty.

Gracie looked at Keres like no other – even towards Hades she hadn't cast such an evil glance. "You should be cut to slices and thrown to Tartarus, just like your father!" she yelled, taking out this spear I hadn't seen her use before and trying to strike it towards Keres, but it just rebounded back like Gracie had struck it into a rubber wall. We were trapped in this invisible cage; I, Gracie, Marié, Pruce, Ivan and Viquel.

Ivan shook his head gazing at Viquel, repeating _no_ like a mantra, so I had to poke him on the shoulder to stop him from bringing night inside this dome we were trapped in. As soon as he remembered what had happened, noticed it wasn't a dream, he took out his sword but with resistance. "Look who's here!" another of the monsters bawled, and I must say they sounded IRL like 100 times more awful. Those two were more frightening than a freakin' _army _of closet-sized perverts or cannibals dressed as rappers.

"He's brought friends! I'M SO SCARED!"

"You should be," Marié mumbled. Both of the Cyclops started laughing, which wasn't very likely to cheer Marié up. She took out her golden flute, but this time she didn't have to play anything to form it into a caduceus. I had never seen her strike that through anything, but the edges looked pretty sharp.

The Cyclops on the left scanned Viquel's body through very carefully. "Enough foolery! You'll be dead, just like that girl! Stupid girl!"  
I guess Ivan had already got enough. It took him a lot of strength, but he lifted his sword, pointing at Pruce to come behind his back and Gracie and Marié to take care of the other Cyclops; I must say we had sorta bigger chances into victory with a group like this, but actually only Ivan of us had experience of fighting monsters; I had only chased them away by phoning a half human-half pony who had white chopper. And these dudes... they had died like thrice, so I bet they had already learned of their mistakes.

As everyone else seemed to get ready, I looked around to see what I was doing then; nothing.

Before the Cyclops attacked us, Ivan turned to me.

"Please."

He looked at me straight into the eyes, making me feel like someone had struck my lungs with a pin – this painful sting which made breathing hard. I wondered was it the first time; no-one ever looked at me straight into the eyes. Ivan usually always spoke with his eyes closed, and seeing how sincere he looked like when he said it, I knew I couldn't fail. As he nodded at Viquel I pressed my eyelids tightly closed. He wanted me to preserve her body, so we could change the future, and end it all how it should have been. I didn't know did I cry on the outside, but my insides bleed.

* * *

"Wanna taste this, _hulk?"_

Gracie pointed her spear straight at the Cyclops' eye so the damn creature winched, and in a real situation I would've even laughed, but now it was so serious I couldn't even smile. I bet the Cyclops didn't either understand or just like to be pointed with spears, because after the first-minute shock it took hold of the spear and snapped it in two – Marié flinched back as she saw the main focus of the ogre was on her now, and as Gracie lifted her weapon from the ground and bended it back together like it weighed actually nothing; I guess she also knew using only a spear didn't work against a Cyclops, so she kept on switching from one weapon to other in the speed of light. It was crazy to watch. First she held a spear, and only about a second later her nunchuks, a knife, a shield, a sword. Next to her Marié tried to distract the monster by playing this crazy tune which must've been like a European folk dance or something, due it made even my head spin and I felt this bothersome desire of starting to jump around. On the left I saw Ivan move his sword like an artist moved his brush – carefully and advisedly, striking and slashing; Pruce circled the monster trying to stab my former dagger into its back, but though he did anything, it was like he didn't exist, and my gaze moved behind the invisible walls to Keres, who leaned onto his scythe. It was him, it had to be. He was still so thankful to Pruce, and was torturing us by the fact Pruce was here but could not fight and no monster fought against him. Looking at him I suddenly got an idea.

"Pruce!" I moved my lips, wishing he could read them. "Don't!"

He stabbed, sliced and stroke, but didn't see me.

I concentrated on him noticing me, but it was so much easier for me to stay unnoticed than in the centre of attention. I covered my eyes with my palm and took turns gazing from Viquel to Ivan, the two Cyclops and their attention. The one on the right collapsed from Marié's diversion, grumbling the earth so I almost fell on my knees, and Gracie tied her golden rope as a lasso to swing it around the Cyclops' head and probably strangle it, but the monster rose up unbelievably quickly. I stared fearfully at the Cyclops who focused on Ivan. It moved it fists and knocked Ivan on his head so hard I bet he would've died unless he was a half-blood. I had this very bad feeling of the Cyclops not even focusing on Ivan. It was very busy stalking at me and Viquel there at the back, growling something which sounded suspiciously like _SHE MUST DIEEE!_

Then I did something very risky.

Quickly I read my prayers to all the gods up there and pulled my drug-needle, jumping into Ivan's back like a monkey clinging onto something, so he collapsed to his knees turning his head and looking at me like I was some sort of maniac. I bet he didn't even know the fact I had just saved his life; the Cyclops got confused and turned around, seeing Pruce, who held his dagger in his hands. When Pruce turned his eyes to me and Ivan, I pointed my thumb to Viquel. He seemed to understand due he took this big leap and spread his arms out like for protection – the Cyclops blinked his football-sized eye in confusion.

Ivan got loose from my grip and rose to his feet. The Cyclops wrinkled its unibrows, growling something again, and I took advantage of the situation. I just remember the freakin' monster had very stinky feet. Trying to struggle against the smell, I struck my drug-needle into his knee.

"Sleeping time!" I whispered, pulling the needle back; it was now useless, as there was no poison, but I put it safe into my pocket.

Even Gracie and Marié turned around, so the flute-playing stopped for a second. "What?" I heard Gracie say, as she raised her gaze from the Cyclops face she kept on punching – _she had knocked down the freakin' thing, _and sat on its stomach, but she was unable to take out any weapon, due even one wrong motion would cause her to lose. As our Cyclops had gone dizzy for a second, I could focus seeing on how Marié morphed her flute into a caduceus and tried to strike it into the Cyclops' heart, but I saw the rest only from the corner of my eye, as the Cyclops with the dream poison in its veins started to sway.

"You cursed children! Let me rip your heads off!"

I knew the monster would collapse soon. When I saw Pruce protect Viquel I got an idea, and pointed at Ivan so he would come to my side. He got almost killed like eight times during the way he changed his spot though it took only a couple of seconds, but was worth it. The next thing I did was called the Cyclops with names – they must've sounded pretty lame when thinking of it. "Be better," I heard Ivan whisper, and to please him I made up a couple of more evil insults, but he did the big job. I just gathered all my concentration to target it into one spot; to make the Cyclops fall asleep. I thought of really _anything – _everything I knew to make me sleepy, like the letter Z and sheep and a starlit night. Beds, pillows, closed eyes. Lullabies. The only problem in it was the fact thinking of stuff like that made even me sleepy, and Ivan had to take hold of me for me not to fall; what in the end kept me awake was the fact I saw how the Cyclops staggered backwards, swaying left and right like some crazy pendulum. "Viquel!" I yelled, and the Cyclops landed with a huge THUMP. I closed my eyes, just hoping it didn't land on Viquel. I think I had heard a crack, but when I opened my eyes I knew it had came from the Cyclops' skull crushing into the rock. Pruce stood protectingly in a good distance from the Cyclops corpse which exploded into clouds of golden glitter – holding Viquel's body in his hands.

I noticed I was panting. I forgot where I was, forgot what had I done, as the truth was coming to me. We were safe.

Almost.

"ELEA!"

I turned around like someone had whipped me. The other Cyclops was still there, but Gracie wasn't sitting on its stomach anymore. I saw how Marié tried to avoid being hit by the monster's fist her face sweaty and hair so messy it reminded me more of some animal's nest than cotton; and Gracie lay in her feet, unmoving.

I couldn't yell, neither say anything; my brain was only freezing and I was covering my eyes. It had been terrible to watch Viquel die, how she laid there her eyelids closed, already somewhere far away. But Gracie... I couldn't describe how it felt; like there was nothing else in that world than her – dead, dead, dead...

"She is breathing," Pruce said. He had moved from Viquel, but the Cyclops was too busy fighting with Marié to notice her body. "I can feel her pulse."

I looked at Ivan in desperation. "That... Cyclops... must die!"

Ivan's eyes widened. "Wow, finally some sense! If I only had some darts..."

He rose up. Ivan let out a sheer battle cry, lifting his blade, but I took hold of the back of his shirt before he'd be in death danger again.

"Ivan," I breathed, looking at him straight to the eyes. I felt the cold vibes when he returned a gaze, but I could tell he was restless. "Take this. Maybe... just maybe..."

I handed him my drug-needle.

"Why didn't I think of this before? This is a perfect dart!"

Then he looked into both directions, his eyes lingering long on Viquel who lay next to Gracie, both bleeding. His hands sorta twitched, like he was about to do something, but then Marié screamed again, and he ran to help her.

"Hey, ugly!"

I leaned over to Gracie with Marié, as Ivan tried to distract the Cyclops. I wrapped my hand around Gracie's wrist and feeling the pulse could finally swallow again; but my blood seemed to freeze again as soon as I saw what had happened. There was this huge cut below Gracie's right shoulder, which began from the arm and continued to the chest. The sand below her was bloodstained.

"What happened?"

Marié swallowed, lifting her caduceus for me to see. "I... I... she was already winning and I rose this to kill the Cyclops. B-but it fooled me and struck my arm down so I missed the spot, and then I just saw her gaze turn upside-down, and she..."  
"She fears blood," I remembered. "Can't you heal her? Hello, daughter of Hermes!"

"No!" she had tears in her eyes. "I usually can, but a cut made by this weapon... it's useless!"

I winched, looking at Marié's caduceus, and then to Ivan, who hadn't even a chance with the dart-thing due he was too busy blocking the Cyclops' attacks.

"Play! Still one tune!"

Marié's lips were trembling, but she knew what I meant. She rose on her feet with the help of me and Pruce, and I saw Pruce rip this turquoise belt he used to hide his dagger in to bind the wound. Soon I heard Marié play some random version of _The Little Drummer Boy _which distracted the Cyclops enough, and then Ivan threw.

The AARGH the Cyclops uttered was so loud I think my eardrums just burst. I didn't see it, but judging of the way Marié stopped playing Ivan had hit a bullseye – when I raised my gaze, I saw Ivan stab and a burst of golden glitter.

Gracie opened her eyes about a minute after it was over. Pruce had sterilised the wound by cleaning it with water – he really could do all kinds of stuff. Gracie hadn't really lost lots of blood, but enough for her to faint, and we needed to get her to the camp, soon. I rose up to exchange a smile with Ivan – he gave me my _dart _back, and I hid it in my pocket – but then saw something not so pleasant.

I had already forgotten about Keres. It felt like there was no barrier around us anymore, and I saw him stand 20 feet from us, holding his scythe like he wished to snap it apart. He didn't do anything, really, which made me wonder. He just... stared at us with golden eyes. We didn't see him coming any closer, but when we left, Gracie sliced this portion out of the huge rock on the open and started scratching it towards the rock itself to cause sparks. In a normal situation that would've been nothing, but Gracie set the whole open ablaze from only one teeny spark. I helped Ivan carry Viquel's body to the camp and Pruce and Marié let Gracie lean on them, though she felt better already; maybe setting some forest fire cheered her up.

Behind the flaming wall Keres leaned onto his scythe. Wondering, until the break of dawn, he watched us set the world alight.


	24. EPILOGUE

**A/N **Hugely inspired by Evanescence, as the whole story.

_"in the end, we are all the same, vulnerable and in fear, closed up inside. in the end, what we call deep silence, is all we need, and the only way to protect us from breaking like glass. the sky, the earth, the nature - they don't need words; words are only there to tear us apart even more."_

EPILOGUE

Time felt like slowing down when we walked the path back to Life. A rain of autumn leaves had colored the earth in their countless shades of orange, resonating calm warmness into the chilly morning air. The sun hadn't yet traveled across the sky to molten the hoarfrost covering the last strawberries of summer, but the dawning ultramarine sky blushed in a tepid shade of pink. In that time of the year the camp was always so empty; half of the Olympian descendants and almost all of the children of minor deities like Hecate, Nike and Nemesis had left to their homes. The light figures of the Hemera children could still be spot from the hill where lay the Main Building, as they cast a dim, light glow in the shadows. I remembered sighing, seeing how many cabins were closed up with signature-filled signs nailed on the doors – _see you next summer, thanks for the memories._

To how many was Camp Half-blood only a summer camp, only a way to liven up their boring vacations instead of a spark of hope in eternal darkness, in the middle of ceaseless fear? So many wished to be children of minor gods, to live a normal life even for a change. I only wish I could believe it to be true.

The girl I had known so long as the Daughter of Hades came carrying the shroud for Viquel. It was of beautiful fabric, picturing a winged caduceus switching its color as the sun hit it from a different angle. In bright light Dream's daughter's eyes showed a spectrum almost worthy as half of the rainbow, and I had always been wondering how they shone so – the sun hitting them made them almost like honey, but the shadows drew their own little strokes departing from the center, almost like flowers. It took me a while to remember; not yet until the gardens in between the woods and the main building, where we gathered to send Viquel to rest, I understood what was that delicate flower which made looking into those eyes such a joy. Where she stood so light glimmered in her orange, wavy hair, was a fine garden full of poppies, already withering in the turn of October, but climbing up her ankle like they wished to come with her. She was pressing her lips together; we both knew then, that this was a moment of deep silence, and as Chiron pointed her to bring the shroud, I turned my back on the sight.

Where I had turned I could see the Main Building, the clouded windows and perhaps Chiron's collection of old records from behind the glass, a couple of hazy faces, figures sitting in the dark their heads down and gazes in the earth. The windows reflected nothing more than the sun hiding beneath the oaks and maples flaming in the shades of ruby, chestnut and sienna. I think I heard someone calling my name like from deep water; everything around me darkened and I closed my ears. For Chiron I wouldn't turn around, though I knew I had just turned my back to the world. He repeated my name – in my mind I saw him throw a matchstick, burn the shroud for Viquel, all alone.

"Ivan?"

That voice woke me up. It was one voice amongst all, but everything she had ever said or done rose above Chiron's wisdom. Chiron had been born with a fate worse than death, and only due his immortality he thought of being almighty. Of already one fact he had been wrong.

Elea might've had orange hair, eyes of a color I couldn't tell, a way of controlling this world from somewhere we couldn't reach. But to me, she was the daughter of Hades, of all she had done. She had walked on the path of death, a path walked amidst three millennia by the young, old, lost and forgotten, a path similar to all. To Elea, it was the path of the forgotten, lost, old, young – _and_ the ones who came again.

When she repeated my name, I saw Chiron draw a matchstick. I watched the shroud burn, burn and burn – the smoke painted a temporary rainbow in the iris blue sky, permanent in my heart.

* * *

I was somewhere so far away…

"_Feed the fire. The fire is in your eyes."_

Trying to struggle with the sharp pain below my right shoulder, I closed my eyes and concentrated on the fire… Every spark and every flame – it always began with a candle. I imagined a dark world and the heart of the flame. That little twinkle of light… starting to feed it, moving into a state of trance, the flames dancing in my eyes.

I knew it would soon be the time to go.

I had never spent a winter on the camp. I usually always left around in the midterm of September, due my stupid stepfather who wanted me to study something. I guess he didn't imagine such a scared-looking, scrawny girl to become a blacksmith. He actually never wanted anything of me. How much had he ever given to me? Cleo and Camo who had just started their school had been buried in presents. It was rare for me to even get a _Christmas_ present from him. I used to gift him with a watch or something useful I had built on the camp. Maybe he was only into mechanical spiders then, due I got nothing. It must've been his name. Ebenezer. We all called him Eben… or my mother and siblings did. To me he just was a plain scrooge.

"_Who turned the heat on?"_

I opened my eyes. The flames on the altar we had burned Viquel's shroud were still burning, though there was nothing left. I narrowed my eyes and let the flames stay low, not to set Chiron's tail on fire. His beard had sparks in it, though.

"It burns for long", I whispered.

Chiron came next to me. Usually he sat in his wheelchair in this time of the year, but maybe he wanted to act just natural when there were more important things to think about than does his tail show or not. It was a pretty cold day, one of those days I hated, but for Viquel I could stay. I had never understood her and Ivan before what Keres had shown us. Now I saw everything, and knew Chiron could tell what we were thinking.

"You can come with us," Chiron gave me a nice smile. "That has burned for long enough."

I stared at him carefully. "Where will you go?"

"To her tribute by her cabin. We need to set the torches. You wish to help us?"

Still I looked at the burning altar, listening to the flames whisper. Then I lifted my head, wishing Chiron would understand.

"You know what, Chiron?" I tried to say it as nicely as I could. "I don't. Setting only some torches alight for nothing… it sucks. There's no _mind _in it. What would Viquel say if we only would set her some torches, like we did already before? That will only make us cry the more."

Chiron started rubbing his chin. His beard still looked like my father's.

"Maybe you are right."

The Iris kids; Moria Dear, Lloyd Arts, Dorothy Grace and Charles Rowell all came up to Chiron, their rainbow eyes flashing. I know Elea would've kill to be able to do something like that… I mean, remembering people's names. Names were of those things I actually could remember.

Dorothy Grace, the second youngest of the kids, kneeled down to do something, probably say a prayer. Moria was holding Charles' hand. He was this very young boy about the age of my siblings. Lloyd, the boy I knew to give riddles to people willing to use the Iris Connection… he stood leaning onto the altar, but the flames burned so low they didn't scorch his eyebrows. He maybe deserved it… and still I couldn't do it to him in a time like this.

Dorothy rose up from her knees, which were all muddy from kneeling onto the garden. I guess she feared to go too close to the flames on the altar. When I lifted my head again, I saw one of the most epic sights I had ever seen. The smoke turned into water vapor, and when the sun shone through it was like reflecting something on the hugest silver screen ever.

"As the rainbow connects heaven and earth…" Chiron had lifted his other hand, and kept moving the fingers like foreigners gesticulated when talking. "Iris connects the gods to humanity."

Charles Rowell next to Chiron had tears in his eyes. I turned my head from the sight, walking to Elea and Marié, who stood near, but still far away from the altar.

"Whoa," I heard Elea say as she noticed the way I looked at Chiron. "I thought Ivan was the only one who didn't come along with Chiron."

I bit my lips and interrupted her. "That wasn't nice, Elea. If I oppose to something like Chiron's stupid idea and replace it with a better one, does that mean I hate him?"

"Oh, I forgot," Elea smiled in a wicked way. "You like him."

Marié glanced very quickly from Elea to me, rising on her toes to reach up to Elea's ear, so she could whisper something.

"_Oh, I forgot… Gracie fancies beards."_

I blushed. "Hey! If my ear's missing a part, does that mean I'm half deaf?"

As Marié lifted her eyebrows and tilted her head towards Chiron, I started to think about it.

Behind Chiron I could see the Hephaestus kids. Xavir Fields, the guy who always had a knife, Boris Arthurs and his friend Valeria, old Laura Oasis. Zacharias Stonehenge had a camera with him. He was taping Viquel's tribute, zooming at the burning altar, but I could say he saw me through his camera too. Behind the lens I saw a pair of angry eyes, which even might've had fear in them.

I guess he still was bitter about how I told him to go to Tartarus… or he knew I had been there too.

* * *

It was almost raining on the shore.

There were little droplets dripping from the droopy branches of this old tree I liked to sit by. Everyone always called it a willow, but to me it was just the hiding tree, because beneath the thick, densely grown leaves there was a place like home. I didn't know what a home exactly was, but in my mind it was some place where you grow in someone's shadow, dream yet live, have someone to talk to. I didn't talk to trees, though. The rain used to whisper things, and although they really didn't say anything, I might have sometimes answered, maybe believing there was someone controlling the rain, talking to me.

The rain was the only thing I never had been able to really control. I only could control if it was very close to the sea, and otherwise everything I did was limited to the water which used to stay in only one place. Elea once told me I had drowned a ship when I was half asleep. I didn't know should I believe her, but did it for plain niceness. I just wondered who she would be as a part of my family. Marié was to me like mom, as she never let anything happen to me. Gracie had never been very close to me, so she felt like maybe a cousin, a cousin I saw a lot. Ivan was like a brother, so Elea had to be a sister. I would gladly have Marié as a mom instead of Tethys. She was just a little tiny to be a mom. And she sounded like a boy.

The rainclouds came to play again, I saw them sail by on the darkening sky like ships. I turned around to lay on my stomach, on this long rock which was almost like a bed, only too sloping. The branch hung right over my head and I felt something wet on my forehead – I let the droplet slide down along my face, so it left a trace almost like a tear on the pale surface. I used to play with the water in the lake, dip my fingers there and move the water around like drawing something. But now I only lifted my hand very carefully, to catch one droplet falling very slowly from the branch up there, it could slide down the inner of my arm. I could control the speed of the falling droplet, if I wanted to.

_Pruce Lucas Hearth…_

Almost like a real name, a real me. But though I had a name, it felt like I was only cut of paper, thin and fragile and easy to break like glass. If someone called me Pruce Lucas Hearth or the son of Tethys, it wasn't me anymore. If someone wrote my name, P.L Hearth on a piece of paper and gave it to someone, that person could imagine me as a strong boy with blue eyes and light hair, a smart boy with real class.

"Pruce?"

I didn't turn around, but tilted my head enough so the water could bend to show me the reflection of mom. Marié had Elea and Gracie with her, sister and cousin.

I crawled on my knees to mirror my black-blue hair and green-blue eyes, and the bottom of the lake. There someone had dropped a broken sword and a shield, pearls and a tail; a naiad. But she didn't ever look at me, and I wondered could I morph her into a shark with the power of my mind, and then I could live in the bottom of the lake with a shark family. In a treasure lake like that one, so full of everything I couldn't find an empty spot of sand.

Family was coming. I didn't hurry, though. They didn't know of me and the hiding tree. It was almost like home, because I grew in the tree's shadow. Someone had lived there too, before, because there were scratchings on the tree: T/E, CALEB LOVES ALEXANDRA, ARES CABIN RULES FOREVER. I couldn't scratch anything on that tree, because it had already been taken.

I leaned over to see through the water, and found a place where there was around nothing else – and it was empty, almost. Moving my finger I traced my name in the sand below the surface. PRUCE.

I wrote it, my name. It was like a real me, still paper, but this time there was another side on it too. This wasn't washed away by the water, and when family came, I maybe smiled and didn't have to turn around, because there was another side on me too. My name made me everything I was, and I couldn't be called by any other name, because then I would disappear. I almost was real.

* * *

"Oh my goodness with those texts. _JULIUS AND SIDNEY DID IT HERE 5-5-14. _Aren't they even _ashamed?"_

Elea shrugged her shoulders. It was good to see her smile for a while, after facing so much."I've always thought this camp is full of maniacs. Isn't that Julius by the way from the Hermes cabin?"

I felt a slight tickle on my both cheeks, so I must be blushing. "Yes! And he's doing _it _with his sister's damn _friend_ in the age of _seventeen!"_

Elea snickered and seemed to think about the names – "you mean Julius Mallory from Hermes? He's sister Jessie... isn't she from Apollo?"  
I was just about to continue, when Pruce had come to us with his eyes wide. The air was cool, but he was wearing only a tee-shirt, all black he was, his hair pointing in many directions in a way it usually didn't. It looked like he had taken a dip in the lake and left without drying his hair, so it froze like popsicles. We sat by the food pavilion, and on a day like this we could sit any way we liked. Just to prevent loneliness with those demigods who were alone in their cabins. There I could finally see who actually was still left there; Erin and Titus were gone, like they had been so long, and the Demeter table was pretty much as full as it had before been, but the older Ares kids had almost all left – there sat only five Athena kids out of 12 in their table; they always left to study. The Apollo table was pretty full, due those kids were usually chased by monsters. I think only these triplet boys, Hank, Jared and Gabriel something were gone. I saw really no-one in the Aphrodite table, not even Stella, and the minor god tables... it was depressing to look at them so empty. There were only a couple of Nemesis kids, the Hemera children who looked so nervous, like they had to get to sleep right then. The sun hadn't even set yet. They were just plain crazy. The Persephone kids sat in their little round table fearful expressions on their pale faces.

"Marié?" Gracie next to me asked. I was sure she hadn't been there a second ago. Maybe she had been destroying that Hephaestus stalker's videotape. I had these moments very often. Noticing something all sudden, something that definitely hadn't been or happened before. I never told of it to anybody, but maybe everyone else had them too. Except Pruce, who didn't even have ADHD. How he sat next to me was so weird. I had lived in the same cabin with him for two years, and nearly lost him so many times. I didn't _like _him in this way I liked Fredrick, he was a little young for me, too, as he was 12 and I 14... I guess he maybe was already 13 – I didn't know his birthday. Still I feared for losing him, in this same way I feared of losing Elea and Gracie and Ivan. I just knew that this was the time of my life, though so many bad things had happened to me, like me nearly falling into the Styx and the battle with the Cyclops. Otherwise my life had been boring; days in Europe, then suddenly flying on a plane and learning I was a case of human mommy nonhuman daddy. I would even visit home on vacations, but I would more like to be with Hermes than with my mommy. She was a _typical _single, just like S_ex and the City, _except a 100 times more boring and about married with her job. She gave me money, though. I think she still thought I could actually survive as a half-blood with only printed money. Because of mommy, I had to bum a drachma from Elea when we had eaten. I wanted to use the Iris connection to contact my mommy and tell all was okay. Though I didn't like her, I would come home for Christmas. On Christmas the camp was so empty I would have to play pinochle with Chiron all day. Without Frederick camping was actually nothing... I wondered how I could take every flute lesson, because he kept his mouth all the time on his damn _flute – _there never came any chances!

I gave big thanks to Hermes when I had eaten, and just for Viquel, I sacrificed a French fry the shape of a rainbow, but the more it reminded me of a bow, the kind Doris carried. I could also call her, all the same. I didn't know where she was right then, but maybe I could try the Hunter Headquarters. Still often I thought of the hunters and what it would be like to join them, live an exciting life instead of playing pinochle with my teacher on Christmas Eve and wishing my mother to re-marry, but actually pointlessly. If I would be immortal, I would have enough time to hope and fulfill my dream... I kept on waiting for the 21'st of December, the meeting of the gods. Greta, the daughter of Dionysus had already left to mount Olympus to visit his father, maybe to prevent her suicide. It was maybe good for her to leave before we carried Viquel's body to the camp, but I still envied her. Party like on Olympus... that's hard to imagine.

And what I wished for was to visit my daddy to see him even once. I had never seen a picture him, heard his voice or known how he was like. I just knew he left my mommy before I was born. To Olympus, no matter what it would take.

"_What's the password?"_

Damn password. The Iris kids still dared to ask for a password, though today had been Viquel's funeral! They always asked for a password or told a riddle or something. I hope Elea would know this one.

"Well, well!" that greedy Iris boy told us. I was sure he would start insulting us, since Elea had guessed the last riddle awfully wrong. "It's you."  
Elea nodded her head. "I'm no need of calling now."  
"Is that so? We would have let you use the connection for free."

"What about Marié?"

The boy looked at me with sharp, gray eyes, like a cop suspecting someone from drug-dealing. "No. Who was rumored to be the lover of our mother, Iris?"

My eyes widened. That boy was pure evil! The same riddle again. I wish I would have answered it already the last time, when I still remembered the answer. Zeus it definitely wasn't, and even Elea didn't know this.

"Morpheus," Elea stated. She hadn't even asked for permission, so now the Iris boy would definitely kick us out. "The god of Dreams. He is my father."

Surprisingly, the look on the boy's face softened, and his eyes turned from gray to warm brown.

"Really?"

Then he smiled on us, and together, we went and used the Iris connection. I didn't know how long it took, but what I remembered amongst all was after telling the story of my quest to my mother, and the way she stopped drying her hair looking disinterested. _"You will have once your place on Olympus."_

_

* * *

_

Marié wondered of the way I had known the answer to the riddle. I really knew lots of different stuff after being on a quest like that, stuff normal people didn't know. Though most of it I would gladly wipe away using windshield wipers.

So many things came clear, finally. In the beginning... I just knew I maybe was aware then of things I should be, like my grades dropping all the time and the way my father cried even more and more during every Super Bowl. If I'd start telling my life story, I guess I wouldn't seem like such a cool person than I before did. Anyway, I hanged out with more girls than I did with guys, my best friend looked like a 10-year-old, I used drugs and imagined there was a monster in my closet. At least that's how it would sound in the ears of those guys I knew before this life I had been driven into. I'd just say being a half-blood doesn't really differ from normal life. Both have worries, demigods and mortals. The worries just were a little different; like comparing stabbing a Cyclops in the heart with a broken hockey stick or going to Tartarus to the mysterious loss of a makeup remover. They don't differ really much, thinking of this scale of worries of one's life. Half-bloods really had much bigger worries than one Cyclops, like probably preventing the apocalypse and so, as a normal teen could cry after that one makeup remover or mascara for weeks. It depends on the persona, really.

Just as normal teens had their new and old worries, I had ones too. For a long time I had been thinking of the hunter-thing. Once I even thought of joining them, and really, thinking of it now, it sounded pretty silly. And I was sorta old to join them; Thalia was older, but she was a _lieutenant_ – maybe I had just been younger the time I didn't consider joining them as a great loss. Now... well, I just didn't like fighting monsters. They were sorta like Hades. I guess they had even something important to worry about, but just to prop up their ego they went killing some half-bloods time after time. Actually I didn't hate Hades; more I just couldn't imagine him as my father. And I wasn't a freakin' Mc Donald's delivery boy, really.

Zeus was to me more of the big bad. He had pretty bad problems with raising his kids, and he really had to be pretty badass due his brothers blamed him of everything. Thalia hadn't spoken of his father in a really positive tone the last time I saw her – I just knew she had probably decent relations with him, but his father was sorta busy as a god and it's really hard to raise your kids then. Erin had also been in my mind for a while. I hadn't heard of her since Titus mentioned him, so long ago... and then suddenly when Marié calls to Doris, I see Erin there. I dunno did it run in Zeus family or what, joining the hunters. Well, I guess Titus had really disappointed Erin, causing her huntership. Titus... the problem with him was also his father. Listening to my Olympian kid friends like Marié and Gracie, and Nico Di Angelo, who was pretty much one of the coolest and nicest demigods ever... the Olympians didn't sound like nice parents. They had problems of their own, and when they didn't succeed in something, they had to unleash their anger on something; unfortunately often on their own kids. They also partied too much and had _way_ too much sex. For once I'd really like to just march into their throne room and throw some Trojan condoms at them or something. In my opinion... I just didn't like the Olympians.

The Olympians weren't the only ones with lousy parents, though.

Think about Pruce, for instance. Her mum had nearly _killed _him, curse that. Keres had some serious problems too, but I didn't even want to think about him. The Titans were as bad as the Olympians, and if they'd start a third war it'd be a catastrophe. Even the minor gods... like Nemesis. I couldn't say Morpheus was an angel compared to them, but if the Olympians just gave them the thrones...

"…_Nyx?"_

Ivan sighed, and thank gods he didn't tell _me _to go to Tartarus while he was changing his shirt. I turned around, though. I wasn't a stalker.

"She's _nice. _But I just don't like her to go and pointing my friends with dangerous weapons when they step in the River Styx."

I couldn't see Ivan, but I bet he raised his eyebrows.

"She's beautiful, though."

Ivan smirked at my comment. I couldn't really remember everything from our trip to the Underworld, but Nyx I just could. When we had been there, waiting for something to happen, she had showed up, and then I had just imagined her to be watching. I had always known she was somehow special due Ivan got the shivers then... but Nyx, his _mum... _I hadn't guessed that. They had similarities in them, though. Nyx hair was a little too dark and her skin pale, and if those didn't count, Ivan had inherited nicely the royal features and midnight blue eyes. I was sorta thankful of Morpheus being asleep all the time, so he couldn't stalk me on my quests... still I hoped, that he would still live, be a part of my life, due I didn't want to lose it all.

"You think they are going to build cabins for Nyx and Morpheus? There's still a couple of unclaimed kids at Hermes'. That Thia Grey, that kid about Pruce's age? I think she and you look kinda similar."

Ivan huffed. "Don't! I can't... I can't imagine a little sister."

"Aren't I a little like a little sister to you?"

Ivan turned silent. I turned around and saw him walk from one side of the room to other – he went and threw his old shirt into this pile in the corner he called THE DUMP. Then he opened the window which was facing to a direction with really no cabins in the way; just the Main building somewhere far away, and this distant glow where Viquel's altar was – there were little candles burning there.

"See that?"

I wrinkled my eyebrows. He pointed outside, but not at Viquel's altar – at the sky, which was pitch-black, as Ivan was controlling it to stay like that.

"I don't know the constellations. Only Virgo, really."

"Not even Scorpio?" he whined. "That's my star sign!"

"I do recognise that bright one there," I squinted my eyes to see it clearer; it wasn't really hard, due it was about the only constellation I could see from that window. "It's shaped like a _W."_

Ivan clutched his fists, probably trying to remember the name. It was fun to see him struggle for a while, because even I didn't really like his professor-side a lot.

"Cassiopeia."

Really the only reason why I remembered such a long name was due it was very close to Gracie' second name, Calliope. I stared at the constellation for a while, like it was the first time in my life I had seen it.

Suddenly the outside it seemed to dim, and for a second I thought Ivan was playing with darkness again. Thinking about it, I guess the lights on Viquel's altar had gone out. The candles had been burnt.

When Ivan saw that sight, he sighed. His gaze moved around the dark Hades cabin sorta worried, like the place would remind him of the Underworld. Then he came, and sat down on my bed, his eyes in the starry sky, like wishing someone would return a gaze.

"Only you are the life among the dead."

* * *

In the end I could finally dream.

There were about two _important_ things I could tell of that dream.

1) It played this song from the Lord of The Rings film score (I had seen that film after Ivan showed it to me - he had been a total fan of it as a kid, though it was rated PG-13 or something, it had so much gore in it) - Into the West, though not the part with Annie Lennox singing, only the instrumental in the end. Marié had played it with her flute once - I was never really into instrumental music, but after it all it sounded so beautiful. And there I could fly, totally, or then my moving was just flawless, and it was odd - I was watching myself move, I could see my giant leaps and everything; I didn't see through my own eyes, for the first time in my life. It was night then; I saw all the constellations, Virgo, Cassiopeia... even freakin' Jupiter. In the horizon there glimmered a warm, orange light, and as I took a leap there, I saw Gracie, in a Hephaestus forge, building awesome mechanical gadgets like she always did, and Pruce who swam in the seas, creating the waves and all the rain. Marié could fly there, too - she had tiny little angel wings and she delivered messages by playing them with her golden flute, Ivan jumped from star to star, over the star-belt they called the Milky Way, lighting them up and out by his mere touch.

And Morpheus, my real father, he sat on the crescent on the moon in his long, dark coat, his orange wavy hair flowing on his shoulders, but with no wild stubble on his chin, winking his eye - hazel as mine. The family which had raised me; Coke-Dude, my blonde angel mother... their faces seemed to be formed of the stars; they had their own constellations. Gazing more carefully I could also see the faces of others too - Viquel tossing coins into a rainbow fountain, Sofia, my old friend from school, who almost looked like an Athena kid, but still wasn't - sitting on a silver-edged cloud.

2) As the instrumental came to its end, I found my own place in that dream too. _I was_ the dreamer, the creator, the preserver. The lantern died.

Το τέλος.


End file.
